


They Had It Coming

by BackinBlack_80



Category: Cobra Kai (Web Series), Karate Kid (Movies)
Genre: Gen, I thought of this because I read too many murder mysteries, Murder, Snowed In, Suspicion, The boys on holiday, Trust Issues
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-19
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-18 00:07:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 17
Words: 24,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28857831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BackinBlack_80/pseuds/BackinBlack_80
Summary: Daniel just wanted a relaxing weekend in the mountains and who should show up but Johnny Lawrence!The snow falls, leaving the guests trapped in their hotel. And then people start to die. And there is only one suspect.
Comments: 25
Kudos: 48





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This popped into my head as I read lots of murder mystery books. This started off as a 'And then there were none' concept and grew from there.

Daniel pulled up into the parking lot and looked at the building in front of him. He smiled as he thought about the weekend ahead. He needed some time to relax after the events of the past few months. The tournament, Robby, Cobra Kai. Johnny. He felt mentally exhausted and was planning on spending the next few days relaxing and enjoying the fresh, Colorado air. 

He had enjoyed the karate conference of the past few days, spending time with others in the field, catching up with old members of the All-Valley committee. Daniel already had plans in his head for how he wanted to bring back Miyagi-Do, but he had never taught before and valued the guidance of the karate community. He had a lot of work ahead of him.

But right now, Daniel just wanted to relax. He climbed out of the car, retrieved his case from the back seat and started walking towards the large wooden doors. 

Daniel stepped into the plush hotel lobby. A long oak reception desk was to his left, and a plush seating area to his right. A woman smiled from the desk as he entered. 

‘Mr LaRusso, we are so glad to have you back’ The woman’s badge read Laurie, Head Receptionist. Laurie had worked at the hotel since she was a teenager and always ensured she knew the names of their returning customers. Daniel had visited before and she already had his favourite room booked.

Daniel walked towards the counter, smiling. ‘It’s good to be back’. 

‘You're by yourself this weekend? Is Mrs. LaRusso not joining you?’ 

‘No, just me. I am looking to relax and switch off for a few days’ Daniel took his wallet out and gave her a credit card.

‘That's what we're here for. If you need anything at all, please do let us know’ She looked at her computer screen. ‘We have you in room 107 on the fourth floor, overlooking the lake’

Daniel sighed with happiness. ‘Thank you. I really need this’ He took the key from Laurie, collected his bag, and headed towards the elevators. 

The room was large and comfortable, one wall with floor to ceiling windows and a balcony. He remembered now why he came back here. Daniel walked to the window and pushed open the large glass door. He stepped onto the balcony, admiring the view. 

In front of him were long, mature gardens that led down to a small pebble beach. Behind that was a large lake, crystal against the pale blue sky. Surrounding the lake were tall alpine trees and behind them snow-capped mountains. 

Daniel breathed in the air; a cold breeze coming off the lake. Within those pine trees there were great hiking paths, perfect for early morning walks around the lake. The air felt sharp; the cold weather started to come in. Next week would be the hotel’s last until the spring, when the snow cut the hotel off from civilization for four months of the year.

He turned and started to unpack. Daniel moved his toiletries into the large bathroom. The black and white tiles, with silver faucets gave the bathroom a classic look. He looked at the large whirlpool bath and smiled. 

Daniel opened the mini bar and saw that his favourite wine had already been left to chill. This hotel really did think of everything.

Daniel laid on the bed, kicking his shoes onto the floor. It had been a long day, driving from Denver into the mountains. He wanted to have a nap before going for a run, followed by a bath and then dinner. He started to relax instantly as he thought about the evening ahead of him.

***********************

Daniel woke a few hours later feeling rested and refreshed. It was still light outside. He looked over at his phone. 4pm. Plenty of time before dinner.

He climbed off the bed and found his jogging clothes and sneakers from his bag. Daniel ran down the main staircase, choosing to forgo the elevator, and made his way out, jogging along the path at a run.

Daniel started slowly as his tight muscles started to loosen up, soon getting into a flow and picking up the pace. He left the gardens and started down the path, into the trees. It was quiet and the fresh air felt good in his lungs, just a slight mist on his breath from the cold. 

Daniel turned a corner and realised there was someone else on the path in the distance walking towards him. Daniel slowed down as he got closer to the man. Tall, blond, instantly recognisable. 

Johnny!


	2. Chapter 2

Daniel stopped in front of the man, breathing fast from the exercise.

‘LaRusso. What the hell are you doing here?’ Johnny was in jeans and study boots with a warm jacket.

‘I could ask you the same thing. Are you staying at this hotel?’ Daniel asked with shock.

‘What, you think this hotel is too fancy for someone like me?’ Johnny asked, a smirk on his face.

‘No. I just can’t believe that you are here. In Colorado. What are you doing here?’

‘There was a conference in Denver. The kids got me a couple of nights' stay here as a gift after the tournament’ Johnny said.

‘Right. Of course, they did’ Daniel could see his relaxing weekend melting away.

Johnny smiled. ‘Hey, don’t worry, LaRusso. I’m not here to cramp your style. Plenty of room for both of us’

Daniel smiled sarcastically at Johnny. ‘Yeah, right’

Johnny splayed his arms out in a gesture of surrender. ‘Look, how about we call a truce for these next few days. I could use some time to relax. I don’t want my weekend ruined and I am sure you want to enjoy yours'

Daniel sighed. ‘Sure’

Johnny smiled. ‘You wanna have a drink in the bar later’

Daniel smiled back, begrudgingly. ‘OK, why not’

‘Cool. Have a good run, LaRusso.’ Johnny stepped past him and started to walk away.

Daniel watched him leave. He turned and started running in the opposite direction.

As Daniel ended his run and walked across the gardens, a light snow started to fall, and the air had a definite chill in it. Daniel was just starting to get cold as he ran up the main stairs and into the warm reception area. The large fireplace had been lit and Daniel knew that when he came down for dinner later, the hotel would be warm and cosy.

The hotel had been a hunting lodge for Colorado’s elite before it had become a five-star hotel. It still retained its old charm, while giving its guests all the modern luxuries they could need. It had a large dining room that served quality food and an old-fashioned saloon style bar with one of the best selections of alcohol in the state.

As they got closer to the end of the season the staff had started to head home and they were running on a skeleton crew. Daniel didn't mind. He knew that the staff they did have on hand would continue provide the kind of service that made the hotel famous. Plus, the number of guests was currently at a minimum, mostly people like Daniel; just looking for a few days of relaxation before heading back to the real world.

At least it had been relaxing before he had met Johnny. Why this hotel of all places? Johnny had at least been friendly, so Daniel hoped he was not looking to continue their feud. 

Daniel thought back to their afternoon spent in the bar the day they had taken Johnny's car out, before Johnny had found Robby at Daniel's house. Daniel had to admit, reluctantly, that he had enjoyed that afternoon and had been surprised to find that Johnny could actually make him laugh. Maybe without the backdrop of Robby and Cobra Kai they could start to enjoy each other's company.

Daniel entered his room and smiled to see that housekeeping had been in and finished unpacked for him, stowing his case under the bed. Daniel peeled off his running clothes and started to draw himself a hot bath. He felt the tension flow out of him as he relaxed into the water, closing his eyes.

********************

It was 8pm when Daniel headed down to dinner. He smiled at the receptionist as he passed and entered the large dining room. He looked around and saw a familiar blond head at a table in the corner. 

He walked over to the table and Johnny smiled at him. ‘Evening, LaRusso. Good run?’ Johnny had a half-drunk bottle of Coors in front of him.

Daniel pulled a chair out and sat down. ‘I did. It’s starting to get cold though. A week or two more and this place will be snowed in’

‘Yeah, the snow's really coming down now’ Johnny observed, looking at the window. 

Daniel turned to see large snowflakes passing the large windows that overlooked the garden. That put an end to his hopes of running outside again. Luckily, he had thought to bring his walking gear which he could use, so long as the snow didn’t get too deep. The hotel also had a gym and pool available to guests.

Daniel ordered himself a bottle of wine and Johnny ordered another beer. They found that the conversation flowed easily. They talked about the conference, laughing about the overzealous sales techniques of the conference staff, all trying to sell every kind of new equipment to the dojo owners in attendance.

The conversation eventually got onto Robby. Daniel saw that despite what Robby said, his father cared about him deeply. Daniel was touched to find that Johnny was happy that Robby found in Daniel someone who could give him some direction, though it hurt that it couldn’t be him.

It got late and Johnny joined Daniel in his second bottle of red wine. Johnny wasn’t much of a wine drinker, but the rich flavour was comforting against the backdrop of the large fire and snow falling outside.

Daniel looked around at their fellow diners. There was an elderly couple sitting at the table across from them, sitting in the same comfortable silence that only couples who had been together forever seemed to be able to achieve. 

The table in the corner had a woman eating while a teenage boy sat opposite her, looking down at his phone. The boy was a little older but reminded Daniel of his own son. He smiled at the thought. The woman caught Daniel smiling in their direction and smiled back.

Up at the bar was a young woman, dark blond hair, drinking what looked like an elaborate red cocktail, full of ice and fruit.

The other corner booth held a large gentleman, around Daniel's age, reading a newspaper. He wore a rumpled suit. Daniel could instantly tell the look of a man who spent most of his working life behind the wheel of his car. 

Johnny was also looking around. 'Quiet this evening' he commented.

Daniel shrugged. 'End of the season I suppose'

Johnny took a drink of his wine. He was starting to feel a little tipsy with the alcohol. 'So, what's your plans for the next few days?'

'Relaxing, reading, going for swims, eating, drinking. All those things that I don't get a chance to do at home'

'Same here. After the past few months, I just want to relax' Johnny sat back in his chair, not looking at Daniel.

Daniel followed Johnny's eyeline to the woman at the bar. He smiled.

'Good luck, old man. She's young enough to be your daughter'

Johnny looked away from the woman, at Daniel. 'I'm not that old. Anyway, I've still got some moves in me yet'

'Yeah right, Johnny' Daniel scoffed. 'Go over there, then. Let's see your moves in action'

'Alright. Watch the master at work' Johnny downed the remainder of his wine and got out of his seat. He winked at Daniel before he headed towards the bar.

Johnny walked towards the bar and Daniel watched with shock as Johnny bumped into the woman's chair, knocking some of her drink onto the bar.

'Oh please' Daniel muttered.

He then watched as Johnny smiled at the woman and they started to talk. Johnny was buying the woman a new drink and sat on the stool next to her. They were soon in conversation, the woman laughing and touching her hair in a way that Daniel recognised as flirting.

'Goddamn' Daniel said to himself as he watched the blond man. Whatever Johnny was saying to the woman was working. 

A few minutes later Johnny walked back to the table with drinks for himself and Daniel. He smiled triumphantly at Daniel.

'Her name's Taylor. We're having a drink tomorrow night' Johnny said with a smug smile as he sat down.

'I can't believe you bumped into her like that,' Daniel said.

'Hey, works every time, LaRusso. Tried and tested' He sat back in his chair. 'She couldn't resist my charms'

Daniel snorted. 'You really are a smug asshole, you know that'

Johnny laughed. 


	3. Chapter 3

The next day passed just as Daniel had wanted it. Relaxing and enjoying the time by himself. He saw very little of Johnny, spotted him once at breakfast, drinking a coffee and reading a book. Daniel hadn’t given Johnny to be much of a reader, but then he didn’t really know Johnny at all, he realised. Everything Daniel thought he had known about the man was based on assumptions he made as a teenager.

Daniel wondered if Johnny was looking for peace as much as Daniel was and had the same sense of disappointment upon releasing the other had chosen the same hotel. 

Daniel used the pool and the steam room, went for a walk, albeit struggling through 4 inches of snow. He did a long work out in the gym, had lunch looking out onto his balcony and had a bottle of wine delivered to his room. He took another long bath before dinner. Daniel lay in the water thinking about how he could get used to this. He never wanted to go home.

Daniel had decided to eat in the bar where they served lighter meals. As he walked in, he saw Johnny and the blonde woman sitting up at the bar talking. Johnny looked up and winked at Daniel before going back to his date. Daniel smiled sarcastically and headed towards one of the booths. 

He enjoyed just sitting and watching the activities of the bar go by as he drank another excellent bottle of wine, before moving onto a twenty-year-old tawny port. It was nice to be able to enjoy some fine alcohol without having to worry about going to work the next morning with a hangover.

It had been snowing steadily all day and Daniel could see the heavy snowflakes through the window. There was a warm fire roaring in the corner, making the room look very much like the hunting lodge it used to be. 

Daniel looked around. The man in his rumpled suit was back and looking at Daniel. Daniel smiled in greeting and the man got up and walked over.

‘How are you enjoying your evening?’ he asked

Daniel smiled. ‘Very much so, thank you’ He gestured to the second chair. ‘Join me for a drink?’

‘Sure. Name's Jeff’ The man said as he sat down, holding his hand out.

‘Daniel’ he said as he shook it.

Jeff looked around and stopped with his gaze on Johnny. ‘Your friend seems to have ditched you this evening’ He said with amusement. 

‘She’s easier on the eyes than me’ Daniel joked. 

The man nodded and brought his eyes back to Daniel. ‘So, you passing through or staying a few days’

‘Just here for a few days to relax. There was a conference in Denver, and I like to stop at this hotel when I’m nearby. I needed some time to relax’ Daniel said, taking a sip of his drink.

‘And Johnny?’ Jeff asked, gesturing towards the other man.

Daniel looked over at the bar. ‘Same conference’ Daniel said

‘And what is it that you do?’ Jeff asked.

‘Karate. I'm looking to open a school’

‘Don’t you mean a dojo?’ the man said with a smile.

Daniel smiled back. ‘Yeah, a dojo. People sometimes don’t know what that means’

‘Oh, yeah. I have heard that term around’ Jeff said flippantly. ‘Movies, you know’

Daniel smiled. ‘And what do you do?’

‘Sales mostly. I used to sell cars and moved onto realty’

‘Car sales, huh. When I am not harbouring dreams of running a karate dojo, I have a couple of dealerships’

Jeff laughed. ‘A car salesman who does karate. Who would have thought it?’

Daniel laughed. ‘Well, we’ll see. I have to open first. And my wife has some opinions on it’

The evening wore on and Daniel found that he enjoyed the company of his new friend. They led very different lives but shared a passion for cars. Daniel kept on sneaking glances around to Johnny, who seemed to be hitting it off with a new friend of his own.

Daniel watched as the woman found reasons to touch Johnny’s arm. Jeff was talking and Daniel noticed that he wasn’t listening as he watched Johnny lean forward and kiss the woman. He watched as she started to kiss him back. The man whispered something in her ear and the couple got up and walked hand in hand out of the bar. Daniel leaned back in his seat to catch a glimpse of Johnny and his date stepping into the elevator.

‘Bastard’ Daniel muttered. 

‘Sorry’ Jeff asked. 

Daniel looked away and towards Jeff. ‘Oh, I’m sorry’ Daniel looked back at the man, smiling and nodding as Jeff spoke but he wasn't really listening.

Why did he let Johnny get under his skin? Daniel was a happily married man and there was nothing about the way Johnny lived his life that Daniel envied. But watching the man flirt so openly with a woman and then, by the looks of things, take her back to his room without a care, made Daniel nostalgic for his younger, freer days. 

He refocused on what the other man was saying and tried to put Johnny out of his mind.

Later that night Daniel made his way back to his room. He’d had a pleasant evening with Jeff, finding the man’s company easy, but he was pleased to be able to head off to bed. The alcohol was making his headache and as he looked at his phone, he realised it was almost 12am. 

He got back to his room, pulled his clothes off, and climbed into bed. Daniel was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

***********************

The next morning Daniel awoke to realise that he had not closed his curtains the night before. He opened his eyes and the first thing he registered was the snow falling past his window and the inches of snow up against the window of his balcony. There had been a heavy snowfall overnight. He planned to head home tomorrow and hoped the roads would not be too treacherous. 

Daniel was watching the snow fall, drinking a strong coffee when he heard a shout from the hall.

‘Jesus fucking Christ!’ 

Daniel got up and rushed towards the door. He opened his door, still in his pyjamas and robe, and looked down the hall. A door across the hall was open. He watched as a man backed out of the room. The man was white as a sheet and had his hand to his mouth in shock.

‘Hey buddy, you OK?’ 

The man looked round at Daniel. ‘I think she’s dead’ he said slowly.

Daniel stepped out of the room. As he did, he heard another door open and Jeff stepped out of a room, already dressed for the day.

‘Daniel, everything OK?’

Daniel turned to Jeff. ‘I don’t know’ He walked back towards the man wearing the uniform of a housekeeper. ‘Who’s dead?’

The man pointed. ‘The woman in the room. She’s dead’ 

Daniel walked towards the man. ‘What do you mean dead?’

‘Take a look, man. She’s fucking dead’. He stepped away to let Daniel in the room. 

Daniel looked at the man and at the open door. Daniel took a breath and walked into the room. The room was the same layout as his own, the balcony looking over the front of the hotel. 

He looked to his left and there was a woman lying on the bed. The bed clothes were in disarray and she was lying with her head back on the pillow. The bedside lamp had been knocked over.

She was clearly dead. Her mouth was open as if she had died mid scream and her eyes were wide open, staring up at the ceiling. 

‘Jesus’ Daniel said to himself as he walked around the bed. He looked at her empty eyes and had to look away. He took a deep breath and walked towards the woman. 

He recognised her. It was the woman who Johnny had spent the evening with. The last time Daniel saw her she was leaving the bar and getting into the elevator with Johnny. She was still wearing the clothes from the night before.

Daniel reached out and gently touched the woman’s hand. It was stone cold. She must have been dead for several hours. He pulled his hand quickly away from her. 

He looked at her neck, wondering if he should at least check for a pulse. That was when he noticed the bruises around the woman’s neck. He leaned in closer and saw the obvious signs of strangulation. There were deep purple bruises, the shadows of finger-marks on her skin. Someone had brutally strangled this woman and it looked as if she had attempted to fight them off.

Daniel heard a voice outside. ‘Daniel? Is everything OK’ Jeff called from the hallway. 

‘Jeff, you need to keep people out of here. The woman in this room’s dead. It looks like she’s been strangled’ 

Daniel stood up and away from the bed. He looked around the room. Nothing else seems to have been disturbed or taken. There was a phone on the coffee table, two glass tumblers sat next to it. Daniel didn’t disturb them, trying to touch as little as possible. A handbag sat on the floor, purse on display. He could see she was still wearing her jewellery. No one had intended on robbing this woman. She was fully clothed, so it didn’t look like a sexual assault, for all I knew about what a murder scene is supposed to look like, Daniel thought.

He looked up as someone entered the room. It was Jeff. ‘Daniel?’ He looked over at the woman on the bed and put his hand to his mouth in shock. 

‘We need to call the manager and get the police here’ Daniel said grimly. 

Jeff just nodded, eyes staring at the bed in shock.

‘Jeff?’

He looked round at Daniel. ‘Oh yeah. It’s just…. Jesus. What happened?’ 

Daniel walked towards the man and put his hand on his shoulder, steering him out of the room. They closed the door behind them. The man who had found the woman was leaning against the wall, still white. Daniel stepped towards him.

‘Hey. What’s your name?’

The man looked at Daniel, eyes wide. ‘Richard’ he said quietly. Daniel could tell he was in shock.

‘Richard, tell me what happened?’ Daniel said to him gently.

‘She…. uh...she was leaving this morning. Getting a flight. She wanted a wakeup call and breakfast. The roads are blocked, and reception called the room to let her know’ He pointed to the breakfast tray next to the door. ‘We couldn’t get through. The manager asked me to knock on her door. We didn’t get a response, so I unlocked the door using our key. That’s when I saw her…’ The man wiped his eyes, starting to get emotional.

‘OK, Richard. I need you to go downstairs and find your manager and have him call the police. Can you do that?’

The man silently nodded and started walking down the hall at speed. Daniel could tell he wanted to get away from the room and the dead woman inside it.

Jeff turned to Daniel. ‘We need to make sure no one goes in there’

Daniel nodded. ‘Can you keep an eye on the door?

The man nodded and Daniel turned to walk away. ‘Hey, man’ Jeff said. Daniel turned. ‘Your friend, he was with her last night. We need to speak to him’

Daniel just nodded.


	4. Chapter 4

Down in reception Daniel was met by the manager. 

‘Richard told me. What’s it like up there?’

Daniel sighed. ‘She’s definitely dead. It looks like she’s been strangled’ Daniel said, voice low.

The man blew a breath out. ‘Goddamnit’ 

‘We need the police here’ Daniel said.

The man shook his head. ‘No can do’ He looked at the windows. ‘Have you seen the weather? I am preparing to make a statement to the guests. No one can get onto the roads. The mountain roads are just too dangerous after the snow. We are stuck here until they get cleared’

‘Right’ Daniel said thoughtfully. ‘What was her name?’ he asked.

‘Taylor. Taylor Priestley. She had been here a few days and was due to check out this morning’

‘Morning, LaRusso’ a voice said behind him.

Daniel turned and saw Johnny smiling at him. Johnny took one look at Daniel’s face and the smile fell away.

‘Are you OK?’ Johnny asked.

‘Johnny, I need to talk to you’ Daniel took Johnny’s arm and started to walk him towards the chairs in the corner. The hotel manager followed.

‘Hey, what are you doing, LaRusso. Let go of my arm’ Johnny tried to pull away and Daniel dug his fingers in. 

He sat Johnny down and pulled up the chair opposite him.

Johnny rubbed his arm. ‘Jesus, LaRusso. What’s the matter with you? What did I do now?’

Daniel took a breath. ‘Johnny, that woman you were with last night. Did you go back to her room?’

Johnny stared at him and laughed nervously. ‘Why is that any of your business?’ Johnny could tell something was off by Daniel’s tone. 

‘She’s dead’

Johnny looked at him, blinking. ‘What do you mean she’s dead?’ he asked.

‘I mean she’s fucking dead. Someone…...she’s been strangled’

Johnny huffed out a laugh. ‘You’re joking, right? I don’t believe you’.

Daniel took his arm again. ‘Johnny. She’s dead. I just saw her. Someone strangled her’ He leaned forward, looking Johnny in the eye. ‘You need to tell me what happened after you left the bar’

Johnny saw the serious look in Daniel’s eyes. ‘Jesus. Uh…OK...we left the bar, went back to her room. We had a drink and I left a little while later. I went back to my room and went to bed. That’s all’

‘That’s all?’ Daniel said sceptically. ‘Johnny, I need details. You went to her room and then just left? Did anything happen?’

A man walked up to them. ‘Hey, I heard someone was killed’

The three men looked up at the man. ‘Who are you?’ Daniel asked.

‘Karl. I’m in the room next to hers’ the man said.

‘Karl, did you hear anything?’ Daniel asked. 

The man nodded towards Johnny. ‘Yeah, I saw her go into her room with that guy’

Daniel stood up. ‘What time was that?’

The man shrugged. ‘I don't know, maybe around 11.30' He looked at Johnny. ‘What did you do to her, man?’

Johnny jumped up. ‘I didn’t do anything to her!’ he said angrily.

‘Well, she was with you and now she’s dead’ Karl retorted.

Daniel stepped between them. ‘Calm down. Johnny, just tell us what happened. We need details’

Johnny sat down. ‘OK. We went back to her room. Taylor poured us some drinks, whisky from her minibar. We made out for a while on her bed and then she stopped; we talked. She had just come out of a relationship and decided that she didn’t want to take things any further. We talked a little longer, I finished my drink and said goodnight’

‘She told you to stop and you just left?’ Daniel said. He hadn’t meant it to sound as sceptical as it did. 

Johnny looked at Daniel, narrowing his eyes. ‘Yeah, LaRusso. She said no and I stopped. I'm not a fucking animal’ he snapped. Daniel held his hands up in surrender. ‘I finished my drink and left. She was sitting on the bed. She was alive’

‘What time was this?’ the manager asked.

‘I don’t know. Maybe sometime just before 1am’ Johnny answered

Karl snorted. ‘Yeah right. Something happened in that room. People don’t just drop dead’

Johnny turned at Daniel. ‘I swear, Daniel. She was alive when I left. I swear I didn’t hurt her’

‘It’s OK, Johnny. I believe you. We’ll figure this out’

‘There he is!’ a voice said behind them. The four men turned. ‘What, she wouldn't put out, so you killed her?’ Jeff shouted as he marched across the lobby.

Daniel stood. ‘I asked you to watch the room’ he said to Jeff.

‘I locked the door. Thought I would come down and see what the plan is’ He turned back to Johnny. ‘I know men like you, man. All fucking charming and when the woman doesn’t follow through, you get violent. She fight you? Take things too far, did you?’ he said stepping towards Johnny. 

‘Fuck you, man. You don’t know me’ Johnny stood over the man, baring his teeth. 

Daniel held Johnny’s arm. ‘Look, let’s all just calm down. Jeff, it is not useful right now to throw accusations around. Johnny, just cool it, OK’

Johnny sat down, putting his head in his hands. He looked up at the group.

'Look, I left around 1am, maybe a little earlier. Taylor was alive. Someone must have gotten in there after I left.

'It's OK, Johnny' Daniel looked at the hotel manager. 'Let's go and contact the police' 

The manager nodded. He and Daniel started walking towards the office behind reception. The other guests had started to trickle down and looked over at the group of men standing tensely in reception and Johnny slumped in a chair as they made their way to breakfast.

Daniel looked at the man's name tag 'So, Chris. You're the manager of this place?'

'Assistant Manager. There is only a small group of staff here now that we are at the end of the season. My boss has left for the winter'

'And you say that we are snowed in? Have you told the other guests?'

'No, not yet'

Daniel sat down in the chair in the office and sighed. 'So, we are snowed in with a killer' he said with a sigh.

Chris sat opposite him. 'Hey, man. You really think that guy out there is innocent. I mean, he was in her room last night. How well do you know this guy?'

Daniel looked at the man. How well did he know Johnny? Was he capable of hurting that woman? Did he get angry when she ended his fun, angry enough to kill her?

Daniel thought about what he knew. He knew Johnny had a temper, knew he could be violent, Daniel knew that more than anyone. But strangling a woman to death? He thought the vicious bruises around her neck, the clear signs of a violent struggle. Daniel thought about what he knew of Johnny and made his decision. 

'I'm sure it wasn't him. He's not that guy. He wouldn't have done that to her' Daniel said with confidence.

'OK, man. Just checking. Well, even if it isn't him then we are still snowed in with a killer'

Daniel looked at the man for a moment. He picked up the phone and dialled 911. There was no dial tone. 

Daniel put the receiver down and picked it up again.

'Hey Chris, you got your cell on you?'

'Uh, yeah' Chris pulled his phone out. He looked at the screen. 'No Wi-Fi' he said confused.

'What?'

Chris looked at his phone. 'We get no mobile signal up here, have to use the Wi-Fi for calls, and I've got nothing'

'The phone is disconnected. The internet must have gone down with it'

'Shit' Chris said. 'So, snowed in with a killer and no way to communicate with the outside?'

Daniel sighed, sitting back in his chair. He looked at the ceiling, trying to think. As he did, he spotted the security camera in the corner. He sat forward.

'Chris, do you have cameras on the floors?'

Chris followed Daniel's eye-line to the camera. He smiled. 'We do. Every floor, covering the whole corridor'

Daniel smiled. 'Can we look at the video of last night? Of the corridor?'

'Absolutely' 

Daniel jumped up. 'If anyone went into that room after Johnny, we’ll see it on the video'

They left the office and Chris led Daniel to the security office. They crossed the lobby on their way. The group looked up at them.

'Phones are down for now. We are going to try the police again later' Daniel said. He was trying to sound relaxed, but his heart was thumping in his chest. 'We are going to look at the security footage. There are cameras on the floors'

Johnny smiled. 'Nice idea, LaRusso'

Daniel and Chris walked towards and office marked Security and Jeff started to follow.

The office was small with a desk and a bank of screens. Daniel sat down and looked at the control panel. The screens showed various parts of the hotel, the screens rotating between angles. 

Daniel realised he had no idea what he was doing. 'Uh, anyone know how to use this'

Chris shook his head sheepishly. 'No, sorry. I don't come in here very often' 

Jeff stepped forward. 'I can take a look. Used to work in security. I’ve used systems like this before'

Daniel moved, allowing the other man space. Jeff got a menu up on the screen

started to navigate. He found the right angel of the fourth floor and started flicking through timestamps. They found the footage for the day before. Daniel saw people moving up and down the corridor.

'Can you fast forward to the evening?' Daniel asked.

Jeff nodded, started to forward through the footage. They watched at 7.35pm when Taylor left her room. Later they saw Daniel head down to dinner. 

Jeff started to forward through the evening, moving towards the end of the night. 

At 11.22pm they watched as Johnny and Taylor moved down the corridor, his arm around her waist, her laughing. Karl was behind them, turned to enter his room. Johnny and Taylor went into her room and the corridor was quiet.

Jeff started to forward the recording. 

Just before 12am they watched Daniel enter his room, followed by Jeff entering his minutes later. 

Then at 12.43am they watched as Johnny left the room, closing the door softly behind him, looking up and down the corridor as he did. They watched as he walked away to the elevators. 

'OK, so that's Johnny leaving. Start to forward slowly' Daniel said.

They moved through the recording. The corridor was quiet. The hours ticked by and there was no movement. 

As the time moved to 6am they saw a figure move down the hallway. It was Karl. He had a towel in his hands, was wearing shorts and flip flops. He passed Taylor's door without a glance towards it. An hour later they saw him return, hair wet. He must have gone for an early morning swim. He didn't go near the door.

They continued to fast forward through the video and eventually they came to the moment at 8.53am when Richard knocked on the door. They watch him wait and then leave, returning ten minutes later. They see him let himself in and step back into the corridor. Daniel opens his door soon after, in his pyjamas and robe.

Chris looked at Daniel and Jeff stopped the video.

'Daniel, no one went in there' 

Daniel looked at the screen, trying to understand what he had just watched.

'No one went in that room, Daniel' Chris said again.

Daniel just nodded, not speaking.

Jeff put his hand on Daniel's arm. 'I know he's your friend, but no one went into that room. How did she die if it wasn't him?'

'I don't know' was all Daniel could reply.


	5. Chapter 5

Daniel and Johnny were in Johnny’s hotel room. After seeing the camera footage Daniel had left the office and got Johnny out of there before the other guests had been informed of what was happening. It had taken all of Daniel’s salesman skills to convince Chris and Jeff to let him speak to Johnny alone. They had compromised on Daniel taking Johnny to his room with the intention of keeping him there.

Johnny was pacing. ‘I swear Daniel, swear on my mother’s grave, I didn’t have anything to do with that Taylor’s death’

Daniel was sitting on the bed. ‘I believe you Johnny, but you have to admit, that footage looks bad’

Johnny stopped pacing and looked at Daniel. ‘I can’t explain that. What if someone got through the window, climbed onto the balcony?’

‘The windows are locked from the inside. And there had been snow, we would have seen footprints’ he said gently.

‘Then I don’t know. Maybe someone is trying to frame me’

‘Why would someone do that?’’ 

Johnny sat in one of the chairs. ‘I don’t know. Maybe they just went mental and I’m an easy target’

Daniel stood up. ‘Let’s just wait until the police get here’ He looked around the room. ‘Maybe it’s better if you stay here for now’

‘I have to stay in my room like a fucking prisoner while whoever did this gets to wonder free?’

Daniel looked sadly at him. ‘I’m sorry Johnny. I’m not gonna lock you in but it might just be better if you stayed here’.

‘Yeah right. Thanks, LaRusso’ Johnny said, unhappily.

***********************

Daniel went downstairs to the dining room. Chris was midway through making an announcement to the guests, who were all standing around, faces upset and stressed. 

Daniel looked around the room. Karl and Jeff were standing together whispering. The retired couple sat at one of the booths. There was the woman with her teenage son, her with an arm around his shoulder, him not moving away from her. 

The hotel staff has joined them. The young receptionist stood next to an older woman who Daniel didn’t recognise. By the look of her clothing, she looked like she worked in the kitchens. Richard, the hotel housekeeper, was absent, having taken to his room after the morning's shock.

‘We are doing all we can to contact the police and I am sure that the roads are being cleared as quickly as possible, but until we have an update, I ask everyone to remain calm. The amenities are still open, we have plenty of food. No one needs to panic about anything’ Chris was saying to the group.

‘Who killed that poor girl?’ the elderly woman asked, her husband taking her hand. 

Chris looked at Daniel across the room. ‘We don’t know right now’ he said to the group.

‘So, there’s is a killer here and we don’t know who it is?’ the woman’s husband said. 

‘We don’t know the circumstances of this woman’s death. We have no reason to believe that others are in danger but if anyone is concerned, please stay with each other and we can supply anything you need directly to your room’ Chris said. He took a breath and nodded to the room.

As the guests started to move away, Chris walked towards Daniel at the back of the room. ‘Well, that was nerve wracking’

‘You did great. And thanks for not naming Johnny. We don’t need any vigilantes getting ideas’

‘Where is he?’ Chris asked.

‘In his room. He’s not happy’ Daniel said with a sigh.

‘Yeah, well. A woman’s dead. He can suck it up’ Chris said.

Daniel nodded. 

************************

The day went by. Daniel tried to keep himself occupied, worked out in the gym, and using the pool but he couldn’t take his mind off the murder and Johnny. He kept on going back to that security camera footage. He even went so far as downloading it to rewatch, double checking what he had seen. No one went into that room after Johnny left. He watched the door on the video, kept on wondering at what point in the video that woman was alive or dead. 

Eventually he went downstairs to get an early dinner with the plan to get to bed early, maybe have a drink to calm his nerves.

Daniel sat in the corner. He didn’t want company, knew that people would only want to discuss the murder and he wanted time alone with his thoughts.

He still couldn’t bring himself to believe what that video was showing him. Johnny and he had their differences and Daniel had spent the last thirty-odd years considering the worst of Johnny. As far as Daniel was concerned Johnny was a bully, an asshole, irresponsible for bringing Cobra Kai back, with everything it stood for, and an all almighty prick for the shit he pulled with Daniel’s billboard. But a murderer? The kind of man who could strangle a woman to death in her bed? Daniel just couldn’t see it. Johnny was certainly flawed but not evil.

Daniel was snapped out of his thoughts and looked up towards a commotion at the bar. Johnny! What the hell was he doing out of his room? 

Johnny was squaring up to Karl, looking like he was going to hit someone. Daniel did not want a fight to break out; he knew that Johnny was capable of really hurting this guy and that would not help Johnny’s claim of innocence.

‘You can’t just fucking lock me in my room! Ever heard of innocent until proven guilty, asshole?’ Johnny was saying, towering over the other man.

‘You’re lucky I don’t kick your ass right here’ Karl retorted. 

Johnny smiled and took hold of the man’s shirt collar, pulling him close. ‘I would love to see you try’

Daniel stepped in. ‘Stop it, both of you. Johnny, let go of him’

Johnny pushed the man away, who staggered back. ‘This prick wants to start something, but can’t finish it’

‘I’ll finish it’ Karl came back at him, fists raised. 

Daniel stepped between them. ‘Can you two just calm the fuck down!’ he said to them both sternly. The room went silent. 

‘Alright, LaRusso. Don’t get your panties in a bunch,' Johnny said. 

Daniel turned to Johnny. ‘You. With me’ 

Daniel took hold of Johnny’s arm and pulled him into the lobby. Johnny didn’t resist as Daniel led him to the chairs. Johnny sat down.

‘What are you doing down here starting fights? Do you have any idea how much trouble you are in?’ Daniel said exasperated. 

Johnny looked at him guiltily ‘I was just going to get some food. That guy started on me’

‘Johnny, a woman is dead, and you are currently the prime suspect. With good reason I might add’ Daniel said with a sigh.

‘I didn’t hurt her’ Johnny protested.

‘I know you didn’t but, Johnny, no one else was in that room’ he said gently.

Johnny ran his hand through his hair. ‘OK, OK. Look, I’ll go back to my room. I wasn’t thinking’

‘I’ll come with you. We can order some drinks and food to the room’ Daniel said.

Johnny nodded. ‘Sure. Sorry, man, for causing trouble. I know you’re trying to help, and I do appreciate it’

‘It’s OK. Let’s get out of here’ 

Johnny stood up and they headed to the elevators. They stepped off on the third floor where Johnny’s room was located when they heard a loud scream. They both ran down the corridor towards the sound of the noise. An elderly woman ran out of a room.

‘My husband!’ she cried as they ran to her. She collapsed into Johnny’s arm, sobbing. 

Daniel ran past them into the bedroom. An elderly man lay face down on the floor, the coffee table smashed underneath him. Daniel ran towards him and rolled him over. The man had his eyes closed, his swollen tongue protruding from his mouth. Daniel felt his neck, looking for a pulse. There was nothing. His skin was still warm to the touch; he hadn’t been dead long.

Daniel stepped out of the room. Johnny was sitting on the floor, the elderly woman in his arms, sobbing into his chest. Johnny looked up at Daniel. Daniel shook his head solemnly. 

Daniel crouched on the floor in front of the woman. ‘What happened?’ he asked gently.

She looked up at him, tear stained eyes. ‘I went down to get some dinner. My husband hadn’t been feeling well, some headaches from his heart medication, so he stayed in the room. I came back and found him……’ she started to cry again.

Daniel touched her shoulder. ‘Mrs…...?’

‘Mary. Mary Walker. My husband is Benjamin' 

‘Mary. I’m Daniel. This is Johnny. We need to call the manager, OK. Can we take you downstairs?’

The woman nodded. Johnny started to stand, helping the woman to her feet. Daniel and Johnny walked with the woman to the elevators, taking her to the lobby. Johnny helped her to a chair and sat with her while Daniel found Chris in his office.

‘Daniel, how can I help you?’ he asked.

Daniel stepped into the office and closed the door behind him. ‘We have another one’

Chris looked at him. ‘Another what?’ He looked puzzled.

‘Another what? Another murder!’ Daniel whispered loudly. 

‘Are you serious? Jesus Christ! Who?’ Chris asked, jumping from his chair. The man ran his hands down his face. 

‘Elderly gentleman in his room. His wife found him. She’s with Johnny now. She’s understandably very upset’ Daniel said, voice low.

Chris sat heavily back in his chair. ‘Shit. And Johnny has been locked in his room all day’

Daniel looked at him. ‘I didn’t lock him in’ he said.

‘What do you mean you didn’t lock him in? We said he would stay in his room’ Chris said to Daniel. He stopped. ‘Why is he with the wife?’

Daniel looked at the man for a moment. ‘We were heading back to his room. He came down and got into an altercation with one of the guests. I was convincing him to go back to his room, we were heading there when we heard the scream’ Daniel explained.

'So, let me get this straight. Our man is out of his room, walking the halls and suddenly someone else turns up dead?'

Daniel stared at him. ‘You can’t think that this was him. Why would he hurt an old man?’

‘I don’t know. But I am going to find out’ Chris stood up and marched out of the office. Daniel chased after him. 

Johnny was sitting opposite the crying woman, trying to comfort her as Chris walked up to him. ‘Get away from her!’ he said loudly.

Johnny looked up at Chris. Mary looked up, shock showing in her tear stained eyes.

‘I said get away from her!’ Chris said again. He stood away from Johnny as if he didn’t want to get too close to him.

Johnny stood up slowly, looking at Chris. Daniel stood back, waiting to see Johnny’s response.

‘What…. what’s going on?’ Mary asked, looking between the two men. 

‘I’m sorry, Mrs Walker but we believe this man killed your husband’ Chris said, not taking his eyes from Johnny.

‘Ohhh’ she moaned softly, crying into her hands.

‘I told you, I had nothing to do with this’ Johnny said through clenched teeth. Daniel watched him. Johnny looked angry, like he was going to hurt the other man.

‘You’ve been out of your room’ Chris said. ‘We told you to stay there and you didn’t and now someone’s dead’ 

‘I was with Daniel. He’ll tell you’ Johnny turned to Daniel. ‘Tell them. I was with you’

Daniel looked at him. Johnny hadn’t been with him. He met him in the dining room, but Daniel couldn't say how long Johnny had been out of his room. Johnny watched Daniel, watching his face as he thought how to respond. Johnny must have seen the doubt on Daniel’s face and his face fell.

‘Daniel, you believe me don’t you. You know me. Tell them that I was with you’ Johnny said.

‘I….’ Daniel started. He considered his response. ‘I think we need to look at the security footage’

Chris nodded. ‘Good idea’

Chris and Daniel walked to the security office. Daniel didn’t look Johnny in the eye as he walked past him. Mary was still crying softly in her chair.


	6. Chapter 6

The security office door was open. The two men stepped inside and looked at the control panel. The screens had been smashed and the control panel had been pulled from the wall, the wires hanging down, ripped away. The computer tower where the hard drive was stored was lying on its side, the side dented. The system was dark.

Daniel let a breath out. ‘Fuck’

Chris looked closer at the system, taking hold of the wires to examine them. ‘Well someone didn’t want us to see what was on that security camera’ Chris turned and looked at Daniel. ‘We need to stop fucking around here, OK. We have people dead and one suspect. We need to secure that guy until we can get the police here. I’m gonna lock him in his room, OK’

Daniel just nodded. 

‘If it isn’t him, then that’s fine, but we need to do something’

Chris turned to a cabinet on the wall and took his keys out. The security room also kept the hunting rifles. Chris unlocked the cabinet and too the weapon and some cartridges, loading it.

‘What are you doing with that?’ Daniel asked nervously. 

‘Protecting the guests. If your friend doesn’t want to move, I’ll make him. I’m sorry Daniel, but the guest’s safety is my main concern’

‘OK. Just be careful with that thing’ Daniel said. 

Chris nodded and stepped out of the office. 

‘Well?’ Johnny said. He noticed the rifle in Chris’ hands. ‘What’s going on?’ he said, looking from Chris to Daniel. Chris stepped towards him, the rifle raised, and Johnny stepped back, raising his hands on instinct. 

‘Someone destroyed the security system’ Daniel said. 

‘Oh yeah’ Johnny said, looking at the rifle still pointed at him. 

‘Johnny, you need to go back to your room’ Daniel said. He was trying to keep everyone calm, trying not to let the situation escalate. 

‘Is that right, LaRusso? So, what’s the weapon for?’ he said, nodding to Chris. 

‘That’s just to make sure you don’t cause any trouble’ Chris said

Johnny stepped forward angrily. ‘I told you, I didn’t do anything’ Chris raised the rifle defensively, and Johnny moved back.

‘OK, OK. Look, I’ll go OK’ Johnny said. Johnny started walking towards the elevators, Chris following him.

After they left Daniel went to Mary. She was crying. Daniel put his arm around her, and she wept into his shoulder. 

‘Why would someone hurt my Benjamin’ she whimpered into Daniel's shoulder. 

‘I don’t know. We’ll find out who did it’

**************************

Daniel met Chris back in the lobby. Mary was being cared for by Laurie, the receptionist, in the dining room. Karl and Jeff had joined them and had been updated on the evening's events. They nodded solemnly as they were told about the second murder. 

Daniel still insisted on Johnny’s innocence. He still couldn’t bring himself to believe that the man would be capable of not only one murder, but now two. What would the motive be? He could almost comprehend the idea that Johnny may have hurt Taylor, an argument that got out of hand, maybe he lost his temper if she had rejected him. But why would he attack an elderly man in his room, a stranger? And if he was going to sneak out of his room to commit murder, why would he then come downstairs for all to see him. Why destroy security footage if he was going to present himself in the dining room anyway? It didn’t make any sense. There must be something else going on. Daniel just couldn’t figure out what it was. 

Daniel made the decision to go back to the rooms of the victims and see if anything came to him that could explain the events of the past few days.

He started with Taylor’s room. He unlocked the door and stepped in softly. Although the woman was dead, Daniel still couldn’t help but feel like he was intruding. The room was silent, the only sound the air conditioning humming. Daniel looked over at Taylor’s body. It seemed even worse to look at a second time. Her eyes were still open. 

Daniel took a deep breath and started to move around the room. He looked at the coffee table, at the two glasses. As he walked around the room something triggered in his head, a nagging feeling of some kind. He stared at the coffee table a little longer. Johnny had told them that he and Taylor had shared a drink, explaining the glasses.

Daniel looked at the table a little longer, trying to figure out what was bothering him. He shook his head and turned away.

Crouching down next to the bed, he looked at Taylor. He looked again at the marks on her neck. He could clearly see that they had been done with hands, the handprints purple and clear.

Taylor’s hands were tightly closed into fists. Daniel looked at her nails, wishing the police were here to examine her properly. If she had used her nails to defend herself, there may be DNA. Daniel had no idea how to preserve DNA.

As he thought about her nails, he noticed she had something in her hand. He looked closer and saw she was holding something in her fist

Daniel gently took her hand and tried to open the fingers. His stomach rolled as he felt how cold and stiff her hands were, rigor mortis having taken hold. He had to force her fingers open, the feeling of stiff muscles giving way under the force making him wince

Some hair fell out of her hands. He picked them up gently. Daniel knew that the police would tell he shouldn’t be touching evidence, but the police were not getting to the hotel any time soon. Daniel told himself that if he could get them a suspect that would be worth it.

He held the hairs in his hand. They were a couple of inches long and blond. He looked at Taylor’s hair. They were lighter than her dark blond hair. He stared at them, not daring to breathe for fear of them blowing away. Taylor had pulled on someone’s hair in the struggle, died with strands of it still in her hand. 

Daniel sat on the floor and thought. She had been attacked by someone with blond hair. There was only one person who Daniel could connect these hairs to. He closed his eyes, leaning back against the bed. 


	7. Chapter 7

Daniel had to get out of the room, the presence of the dead woman starting to creep him out.

Daniel stood and looked around for a safe place to keep the hair. He had a brainwave. He pulled his cell phone from his pocket. Daniel pulled the case off the back of the phone and placed the hairs between the phone and the case, trapping them safely.

As Daniel put his phone back in his pocket a realisation hit him. Daniel looked back at the coffee table with the two glasses. Taylor’s phone was gone. He remembered there had been a phone next to the glasses. Daniel looked around the room, wondering if perhaps it had fallen somewhere. The phone was nowhere to be seen.

He looked around the room again, checking the bathroom and opening drawers, looking for anything else of interest. When he was sure there was nothing else, he left the room. 

Daniel walked to the elevators and the third floor. He thought about the phone. Someone must have taken it. But when? The room had been locked since they found the body. Could someone have stolen the key from reception? But why would anyone want the phone? What could it hold that would be of interest?

Daniel stepped out of the elevator on the third floor. He unlocked the Walker’s hotel room door. Benjamin hadn’t been moved, still lying on his back, top of the shattered remains of the coffee table. The man had fallen on his front, telling Daniel that it was likely whoever had done this had attacked him from behind.

He looked down at Benjamin’s body. Overpowering a small woman was one thing, but this man wasn’t small. For an old man Benjamin looked like he had still been carrying a bit of weight. The person had either taken him from surprise or had been strong enough to overpower him.

Daniel crouched down next to the body. The man’s neck had a dark red thin mark around it. There were no hand marks. Benjamin had been strangled using something long and thin. Daniel stood back up and started to walk around. Apart from the body and the broken table, the room was undisturbed. It didn’t look like there had been much of a struggle here. Daniel wondered if the person who had attacked the man had been hiding in the room, waiting for the Walker’s to return from dinner. The thought made Daniel shiver.

Daniel looked out of the windows. There was snow on the balcony. There was no sign the snow had been disturbed, no footprints. No one had been on the balcony since the last snowfall. He turned away from the window and saw something under a chair. 

There was a long piece of black material. Daniel reached down and picked it up. He knew immediately what it was, he had seen Johnny wear it many times. Daniel looked down at the man’s neck, the thin marks where whatever had strangled him had cut in. 

Daniel sat on the bed, looking at the black material in his hand. It nagged at Daniel. It was all too convenient. This was clearly Johnny’s and there was only one explanation for why it was here. Apart from the one explanation that Daniel knew he was supposed to come to.

First the blond hair in Taylor’s hand. That could be a possibility. Johnny had attacked her; she had taken a handful of his hair during the struggle and he hadn’t noticed that she still held it when he left the room. 

But this? Would Johnny sneak into a stranger’s room, strangle him using an item that could easily be identified as his, and then leave it behind. Maybe if he had been disturbed. But if that was the case, who had disturbed him and why had they not reported seeing him in the corridor. It felt so sloppy, so difficult to believe. 

Daniel left the dead man’s room and rode the elevator back to his own. Daniel looked over at the phone next to the bed. He picked up the receiver and dialled.

‘What?’ a voice said.

‘Johnny’

‘What do you want, LaRusso?’ Johnny didn’t sound angry, just tired.

‘How are you?’ Daniel asked.

‘How do you think I am?’ was all Johnny responded. 

‘Johnny, I checked on the bodies and I have found something that I want to check with you’

Johnny sighed. ‘Sure LaRusso. You want to do this under oath or are you happy just to talk? Maybe a lie detector test? Or are you gonna hook a car battery up to my balls?’

‘This isn’t a joke, Johnny’ Daniel said with annoyance.

‘Do I sound like I’m fucking laughing?’ he snapped back. ‘Just ask your questions’ 

Johnny was being belligerent, and Daniel knew his questions were going to upset him further. ‘Johnny, I need to know. Did Taylor grab your hair at any time when you were together? When you were making out or something? Did she take a handful of your hair?’

Johnny sighed but answered. ‘Yeah, I mean, she might have put her hand in my hair. Why?’

‘No, I mean like pull it. Did she pull any out?’

‘You’re asking if she pulled my hair out? No. Why?’

Daniel took a breath. ‘I’ve just checked the body, Johnny. She has a handful of blond hair. It looks an awful lot like yours’

‘I…. I can’t explain that, Daniel’ Johnny said.

‘OK, Johnny. Second question. Your back headband. Do you have it with you?’ Daniel closed his eyes, waiting to hear the answer.

Daniel heard the receiver placed down, heard movement, could hear Johnny moving around the room.

‘It’s not here. It was in my bag and it’s gone’

Daniel sat back on the bed; his shoulder slumped. ‘I was afraid you were going to say that’

‘What do you mean? Where is it?’ Johnny asked.

‘I have it. I just found it in the room where that guest was killed’ Daniel paused. ‘I think it was used to strangle him’ 

There was no sound down the phone. 

‘Johnny?’

‘I’m here’ Johnny took a breath. ‘Daniel, I didn’t kill him. I promise you’ 

'I believe you, Johnny. This is too obvious. Someone is going to a lot of trouble to make it look like you killed these people'

'Why? Why me?' Johnny said. He sounded like he was speaking to himself as much as to Daniel.

'I don't know, Johnny. I don't know why any of this is happening' Daniel said honestly. He wished he could say something to comfort the other man.

Daniel looked at the bedside clock. It was getting late, coming up to 10pm.

'Get some sleep, Johnny. We'll talk tomorrow' Daniel said.

'Sure. And Daniel. Lock your door' Johnny said.

'Oh, don't worry. I intend to.’


	8. Chapter 8

The next day at breakfast, everyone was on edge. It was still snowing heavily, and the guests were no closer to being able to leave. The phone and internet were still down, and no one had been able to contact the police. 

Daniel sat by himself at breakfast and lunch. Chris and Jeff were sitting together, and Daniel could see them throwing glances his way. Daniel knew that his faith in Johnny had set him apart from the group. As far as they were concerned their killer was safely locked in his room, while Daniel was still looking at everyone around him as a potential suspect.

Daniel hasn’t told anyone else about what he had found in the rooms. He didn’t want to add fuel to the fire. He told himself that he would hand everything he found over to the police but right now, it would only cause more panic and potentially put Johnny in danger. 

Day turned to night and everyone, apart from Johnny, was in the dining room. Two people had died alone in their rooms and it was as if people were afraid to be by themselves, as if there was some safety in numbers. Johnny was still in his room. As long as Johnny was locked in, Daniel figured that at least he was safe. 

Daniel moved and sat with Karl and the woman with her teenage son. Daniel introduced himself.

‘I’m Hayley. This is Mikey’ the woman said. 

‘How are you guys holding up?’

‘We’re OK’ Hayley said. ‘I hear that they got the person who did it, we’re just waiting for the police to come’ 

‘Yeah, that’s what I heard too’ Daniel said a silent apology to Johnny. It was easier if the woman and her son felt safe in the knowledge that the killer had been apprehended. ‘Try and stay together though. Just in case’

Karl stood. ‘I’m off to bed’ He walked away without another word. Daniel didn’t chase him. He could tell the man was stressed and wanted to leave him to his thoughts. As it got later into the night, the others started to trickle up until it was just Daniel and Hayley left. Eventually she went up and Daniel decided it was time for him to turn in.

Given that they were now officially snowed in, Chris had allowed the guests access to the kitchen. They still had Sandra, the cook, making them hot meals, but if they wanted snacks or drinks, they could help themselves. Daniel stopped into the kitchen before bed to make himself some hot chocolate in an attempt to calm his nurses.

Daniel stood in the large kitchen, looking down at his mug, stirring it. He was deep in thought when a sound made him raise his head. A squeak, like a sneaker against a hard floor. 

Daniel looked round slowly at the empty kitchen. The chrome counters and cabinet doors reflected around the room. Daniel suddenly felt very exposed, alone where everyone else had gone to bed. He had been telling others not to spend time alone and he realised that he had done exactly that. 

Daniel looked back down at his drink and heard it again. That same squeak, as if someone was trying to move slowly. He felt the hair on the back of his neck raise. Daniel was almost afraid to look round, afraid of what he would see behind him. He felt a fear like he hadn't since he was a child, back when he thought there were monsters under his bed. 

Daniel took a breath. He needed to move. He turned quickly; his hot chocolate forgotten. The room was empty. Daniel started towards the door, breaking into a jog as he crossed the kitchen. Daniel ran up the stairs to the lobby. 

Daniel didn’t wait for the elevator and started up the stairs, taking them two at a time all the way to the fourth floor. By the time he got to his room, he was breathing heavily with exhaustion. Daniel slammed his door closed behind him. He locked it from the inside.

Daniel let out a breath. He turned and looked around the room. His eyes fell on the chair under the dressing table. Daniel picked it up and placed it against the door, propped up against the door handle. 

It took a long time for Daniel to drop off as he lay in bed listening to the wind outside.

*********************

Daniel woke to the sound of the phone. He rolled over and picked up the receiver.

‘Hello’ he muttered.

‘Daniel?’ A voice said

‘Johnny. What do you want?’ Daniel looked round at his clock; it was 2.14am. What on earth was Johnny calling at this time for?

‘Daniel, someone was in my room’ Johnny said, his voice an urgent whisper.

Daniel started to sit up. ‘What do you mean someone was in your room?’

‘I mean someone has been in my room. I woke up and someone was here’ Johnny said. He sounded scared. 

Daniel was wide awake. ‘Where are they now?’ he asked.

‘They’ve gone. I woke up and realised someone was there. When I spoke, they opened the door and left. Daniel, someone has a key. My door has been locked all day.’

‘Are you sure it wasn’t a nightmare? Or maybe shadows playing tricks on you?’ Daniel asked, rubbing his eye with the heel of his hand.

‘I wasn’t dreaming, LaRusso. I’m awake. I saw the light from the hall when they left. I locked the door behind them’

‘OK, Johnny. Keep your door locked. Barricade yourself in if you have to’ 

‘Oh, don’t worry, my chair is against the door’ Johnny said.

Daniel looked at the chair against his own door. After he finished his call with Johnny, Daniel didn’t sleep. He sat up in his bed, listening to the creaks and groans of the large building, every sound making him jump. Daniel had never wanted to get away from a place so much in his life.


	9. Chapter 9

First thing after he woke up, Daniel went to Johnny’s room. Johnny answered Daniel’s knock, opening the door a crack before letting Daniel in. Daniel wondered if he looked as bad as Johnny did. Johnny looked like he hadn’t slept at all, dark circles under his eyes.

‘You look like shit, LaRusso’ Johnny said.

‘You don’t look much better’ Daniel observed. Daniel sat on the chair at the dressing table. Johnny sat on the bed, back against the headboard.

The two men were silent for a moment. Daniel looked out the window and watched the snow fall. It hadn’t let up. Every passing day inches were added, making their chances of going home further away.

Finally, Johnny spoke. ‘This makes the days of fighting about Cobra Kai seem like a walk in the park’ Daniel turned away from the window. Johnny smiled tensely at him.

Daniel smiled half-heartedly ‘Yeah. I miss dealing with dicks on billboards’

Johnny sighed and stood up. He walked over to the balcony doors and looked outside. ‘So, what’s the plan for today?’ He asked.

Daniel shrugged. ‘I don’t really have one. I don’t know what I’m doing. I’m just trying to keep people calm’

Johnny looked over at him. ‘Hey, thanks for this, you know. I haven’t exactly given you much reason to trust me, but you’re the only one here on my side.

Johnny turned back towards the window. Daniel could feel the stress coming off the man. 

‘Johnny, you and I have had our differences. You have acted like an asshole these past months’ Johnny opened his mouth to argue and Daniel put his hand up, silencing him. ‘We’re never going to agree when it comes to Cobra Kai, but you’re not capable of this. I know that’

************************

Daniel went down to the lobby where Chris was at the reception desk. Chris was looking through the drawers, muttering to himself. 

‘Lost something?’ Daniel asked.

Chris looked up at the sound of Daniel’s voice. ‘It’s the weirdest thing. I cannot find the spare office key’ He picked up a pad of paper, hotel name and address stamped across the top, checking underneath.

‘Does your receptionist have it?’

‘She’s got the morning off. I’ll have to ask her when she comes down’ Chris put the paper down and sighed. ‘I’m sure it’s going to be around here somewhere. We never really use it. I just thought that with all the room keys in the office, we should keep the office locked and I want to make sure I had all the keys’

‘Sounds like a sensible idea’ Daniel said. He thought back to Johnny’s claim that someone was in his room in the night. ‘Have any keys gone missing?’

Chris looked back to his office. ‘No, they're all there. I’ve been keeping an eye on them’

‘Is there a master key at all?’

‘What do you mean?’ Chris asked.

‘Is there, like, a key that opens all the hotel room doors?’ 

‘Yeah, we have one, keep it in the security office but I took it this morning. I have it.’ 

Daniel nodded. He turned and started walking towards the dining room for breakfast.

The guests in the dining room were mid-way through breakfast. Daniel realised how hungry he was and went to the buffet cart, piling up his plate with eggs and bacon. They might be snowed in, but Daniel had to admit, there were worse places to be trapped in bad weather. 

He sat down next to Jeff, who was with Hayley and her son. ‘Morning’ Daniel said as he sat down. 

Jeff looked at Daniel wearily. ‘How’s that friend of yours doing?’

‘He’s fine’ Daniel said, he hoped his tone didn’t invite any follow up questions regarding Johnny. Daniel just wanted to get the police here as soon as possible, pass the problem over to them to deal with and go home. 

Jeff stared at Daniel for a moment and went back to his breakfast.

Daniel finished up and decided that he wanted to get some air. Daniel walked round to the back doors and let himself out. The cold hit him instantly. He squinted against the wind and looked around.

The whole garden was covered in a thick blanket of white. It made the landscape look featureless. The snow was falling, and visibility was bad. Two days ago, Daniel could have stood on this same spot and looked all the way to the lake and the mountains beyond. Now all he could see was white. 

Daniel rubbed his hands together and turned to go back inside. As he turned, he glanced down and saw a spot of red in the snow against the steps. The steps were sheltered, and snow coverage was thin, a light dusting of snowflakes. 

He saw another. He walked down the steps and looked about. Daniel walked down the steps, stepped into snow. His foot went into the snow up to his calf. He swore under his breath as his foot started to get damp, his sneakers not designed for walking in the snow, 

As Daniel turned, trying to keep his balance, he looked up and for the first time could see down the side of the building. Daniel cried out in shock. Lying against the side of the shed was Karl, the white snow around him dyed red with blood. Karl lay in the snow, legs out in front of him, torso propped up against the shed, head slumped against his shoulder. 

Daniel stepped back, staring at the sight in front of him. He took a deep breath, trying to calm his heart rate. He closed his eyes and took another breath. He opened his eyes. The body was still there.

Daniel stepped closer. He could see that Karl had been stabbed in the neck, he could see the gash and where the blood had spilled down his front. By the look of the amount of blood Karl had bled out where he sat. 

Daniel turned and ran back into the hotel and across the lobby to reception. Chris was in his office, reading a document. Chris looked up as Daniel burst in.

‘Daniel. What….?’ Chris looked at Daniel with concern. 

Daniel didn’t speak, couldn’t find the words. He put his hands on his thighs and bent forward, trying to breath. Chris stood and put his hand on Daniel’s shoulder. Daniel took a breath and blew it out. He looked up at Chris.

‘It’s Karl’ was all he said.


	10. Chapter 10

Chris and Daniel stood in the snow looking at Karl. Daniel looked around at Chris. The man was as white as a sheet. Daniel looked back at the body. Neither of them had worked up the courage to approach the body. Karl’s eyes stared aimlessly, the long gash on his neck wide open, black with dried blood.

‘Who the fuck could do this?’ Chris whispered.

‘I don’t know. Someone who’s really sick, or really angry’ Daniel responded, still staring at the body. 

Chris turned away. He put his hand to his mouth. He looked like he was going to throw up. ‘What am I going to tell people? There is a fucking psycho in the hotel. What was Karl even doing out here?’ 

‘I don’t know’ Daniel responded.

Chris took a long breath. He paused and looked around. ‘We need to cover him up. We can’t leave him like this’ Chris started to walk around the body towards the door of the shed. 

Daniel followed him. Chris pulled the door open and stepped inside. He came out a moment later with a large piece of blue tarpaulin. Daniel stepped aside to let him by, and the two men looked down at the body. 

Daniel’s stomach started to roll. He could smell the man’s blood, sickly sweet and metallic in the cold air. 

‘Help me move him’ Chris muttered. 

He and Daniel stepped towards Karl. Daniel took one of Karl’s arms and Chris took his legs. They started to move Karl so that he was laying down. They struggled moving him, Karl had clearly been out all night and was stiff and frozen. The men eventually got him onto the floor, but he wouldn't lay down flat. They got him onto his side and draped the tarp over him.

Daniel stepped back. He looked down with horror at the amount of blood on his white sneakers. His feet were damp. He said a silent prayer that they were only damp with snow and the blood hadn’t seeped through to his bare feet. 

The two men turned and started walking back to the hotel. As they got through the door, Daniel took his shoes off. He kicked them outside, had no interest in ever putting them back on.

Daniel walked in the lobby and found Hayley standing at reception. She looked at his grim face with concern and puzzlement.

‘You OK, Daniel? You look awful’ she said as she put her hand on his arm. He looked like he needed some comfort. 

‘Ah shit, I’ve been better’ he said, trying to smile. He hadn’t agreed with Chris what they would tell the guest so kept silent.

Hayley looked back towards the reception desk, craning her neck towards the office. ‘Hey, have you seen Chris about? I need to talk to him pretty urgently’. She looked nervous.

‘What’s up?’ he asked.

‘Uh…. OK…...so I think someone has been in my room and stolen something’ she said anxiously. 

‘What’s been taken?’

‘Some pretty serious equipment’ She turned away from the reception desk and walked a few steps to look into the dining room. 

‘What kind of equipment?’ Daniel asked.

‘I have some pretty strong drugs with me, for work. I feel so stupid, I should have locked them away, but I didn’t want to leave them in car and it was only supposed to be for two nights so I figured they were safe’ Hayley looked guilty as she spoke.

‘What kind of drugs?’

‘Tranquilisers. For horses. I’m so screwed if I don’t get it back. It’s a pretty strong substance, illegal when taken incorrectly. Some people try and get high off it but if someone takes this stuff it’s gonna really mess them up’

‘Why do you have something like that?’ Daniel asked. 

‘I’m a vet. I give them to the horses when we examine them, to calm them down’

Daniel looked at her, thinking. Why would someone steal a vet’s drugs? ‘Hayley, what could happen if someone was given these drugs?’

‘Depends on how much they take. People tend to take small amounts, treat them as extra strong tranquilizers. Give someone too much and you could put them into a coma or even kill them’ Hayley looked around her. ‘I really hope no one has stolen them. I am going to get into so much trouble’

Chris emerged from the dining rooms. ‘What are you two talking about?’ He looked pointedly at Daniel. Daniel knew that Chris didn’t want anyone to be told until he had decided how to handle the announcement.

‘Someone has stolen something from my room’ Hayley said quickly.

‘Tranquilizers’ Daniel said. ‘Strong ones. Hayley says they could really do some damage if someone was given them’

Chris looked at Daniel. ‘You think that someone could…...?

‘I think we have to consider that this could be connected’ 

Hayley looked from Chris to Daniel, confused. ‘What are you two talking about?’

Daniel sighed. ‘We had better tell you. I don’t want to jump to conclusion, I hope they are not connected, but it’s a pretty big coincidence if they are not’

They sat in Chris’ office and Daniel proceeded to tell Hayley everything from the beginning.

Hayley sat back in her chair and breathed a long breath out. ‘Shit. And we have no suspects?’

Chris and Daniel looked at each other. Hayley looked confused at the two of them.

‘We have one guy….’ Chris started.

‘It’s not him’ Daniel protested. Chris held up his hands. 

‘Who?’ Hayley asked.

Daniel sighed. ‘Johnny. They think that he has something to do with this’

‘That blond guy you were with? He’s our suspect?’ Hayley looked from Chris to Daniel.

Chris spoke first. ‘He was with the first victim that night and we can see on the security cam that no one else went in into her room after he left’

Hayley looked to Daniel. ‘And you don’t believe it?’

‘I know him. He wouldn’t do this. I just cannot bring myself to believe that Johnny is walking the halls murdering people. It’s insane’

Hayley looked at him with sympathy. ‘People do crazy things all the time’ She turned to Chris. ‘Is there anything else, apart from the camera footage?’ He shrugged.

Their discussion was interrupted by a blood curdling scream from downstairs. All three jumped up and ran through the dining rooms, down to the kitchens.

‘Where did that come from?’ Hayley asked.

‘Please help’ came a shout.

The voice was coming from the kitchens. They ran towards the walk-in fridge where Sandra was standing back, looking at something. Daniel ran past her and skidded to a halt.

Lying on the floor of the walk-in freezer was Laurie, surrounded by a frozen puddle of blood. She was on her front, wearing pyjamas and had bare feet.

‘Jesus, not another one’ Daniel moaned quietly.

Daniel looked at the others and they all stood back. He sighed. Daniel had seen more dead bodies in the past two days than he ever thought possible. It looked like examining the body was his going to be his job again. 

Daniel stepped towards Laurie. The freezer was cold, really cold, despite the door being held open, and Laurie’s body had frozen. He could see the frost had collected around her mouth and eyes. As he moved round the front of her, he saw the wound in her side. The thin pyjamas she wore gave him a good view of where the knife had gone in. His stomach did somersaults as he looked at where the blood had frozen to her body.

‘Fuck’ Daniel said, stepping back. He left the freezer where Hayley was waiting. Chris had taken Sandra upstairs.

‘You’re sure this isn’t your friends work?’ She asked him.

‘I don’t know what I think anymore. This is so fucked up. We have four people dead’

Daniel thought back to the evening before, being the kitchen and that feeling that someone was with him. Had Laurie come down here after him, met whoever had been watching him? Daniel was suddenly scared, really scared. He had an urge to go upstairs and barricade himself in his room until either the police or Spring arrived, he didn’t care which.

Chris came back. ‘Sandra’s in the dining room. She’s really shook up’

Jeff was behind him. ‘What’s going on? I heard screaming!’ He looked past them at Laurie. ‘Jesus Christ’ He turned back to the others. ‘I heard about Karl’ Jeff turned to Daniel. ‘You said you were going to search the first two rooms again. Did you find anything? Anything that helps us understand what the hell is going on’

Daniel hesitated, he hadn’t planned to say anything but couldn’t keep it to himself anymore in light of Laurie and Karl’s deaths.

‘I did’ he started. He paused, hesitated.

‘What? What Daniel? What are you keeping from us?! Jeff said, almost shouting.

‘Fuck. OK. I found something weird. Taylor, she had something in her hand….’

‘What?’ Jeff said with impatience. 

‘She had some blond hairs in her hand, like she had pulled them out. And the old man, I found a black headband in his room. It’s Johnny’s. I recognised it as soon as I saw it’ Daniel stopped, bracing himself for the response of the group. 

They stared at him for a moment. No one said anything.

‘I still can’t believe it’ Daniel argued. ‘It's too convenient. It’s too obvious. I just can’t shake this feeling that there is something wrong with it all’ Daniel paused, waiting for their response. 

‘It is pretty weird….’ Hayley started. 

‘You two are insane’ Jeff looked at Daniel in anger. ‘People are dying, and you are still trying to cover for him. If we had dealt with him before, if we had known what you found, two people may still be alive’

Daniel held his hands out. ‘I’m sorry man, but it just can’t be him’

‘We’re done. If you’re not with us, you're against us’ Jeff turned to Chris. ‘We are searching his fucking room’ 

Chris nodded. The two men left the room, with Daniel and Hayley following


	11. Chapter 11

The small party of four headed up to the third floor. Chris was carrying a rifle and Jeff was angry. Daniel was scared, hoping he could stop the situation from descending into vigilante action. Chris took his key out and put it into the lock of Johnny’s door.

‘It’s not locked’ Chris turned to Daniel. ‘Is this your doing? Did you unlock this door?’

‘No. Johnny said someone unlocked it last night’ 

‘Hmm. Likely’ Chris banged on Johnny’s door. ‘Open up!’

The door opened and Johnny looked at them with suspicion. He turned his eyes to Daniel and then his gaze drifted to the rifle in Chris’ hands.

‘What’s going on?’ Johnny said apprehensively.

Chris pushed past him and the others followed him into the room. Johnny stood next to the door as they all walked past him.

Johnny looked at Daniel. ‘Daniel, what’s going on?’ he repeated.

‘It’s…….’ Daniel started.

‘We’ve got two more dead downstairs’ Jeff interrupted. ‘Stabbed. You sick fuck’ Jeff moved towards Johnny. Daniel threw his arm across him, holding Jeff back.

Johnny backed against the door. Daniel looked over at him as he held onto Jeff’s arm. Johnny didn’t look angry at the accusations anymore, he looked scared.

‘I didn’t……. who?’ he asked.

‘As if you don’t know’ Jeff spat. 

Daniel continued to hold Jeff’s arm. He could feel the man wanting to pull away from him. ‘It’s Karl. And Laurie, the receptionist. We found them this morning. It must have happened overnight’ Daniel explained.

‘Fuck’ Johnny muttered quietly. He said louder. ‘I didn’t do it. I didn’t leave this room all night. Daniel, tell them. Someone unlocked my door, but I didn't leave’

‘That’s right. He said someone was in here’ Daniel explained.

‘Yeah, that's what he told you. How do you know he’s telling the truth?’ Chris said to Daniel. ‘He could just be saying that to cover’ He turned back to Johnny. ‘Daniel told us what he found. The hair in Taylor’s room. The black headband. We’re searching your room. If there is proof that you are behind this, we are going to find it’

Johnny turned to Daniel. ‘You told them? I told you that I don’t know how they got there’ 

Daniel could see that Johnny was hurt, that Johnny needed someone who trusted him at that moment. Daniel felt terrible for giving him up the way he had. ‘I’m sorry, Johnny. I had to tell them. We’ve got four people dead and if anything can stop it….’

‘Enough fucking talk. We’re here to search your room. We know it was you and we are gonna prove it’ Chris said. He picked up a suitcase and tipped it onto the bed.

‘Wait…. you can’t….’ Johnny started to protest.

‘Stand back’ Chris said, raising his rifle. ‘Against the wall’

‘OK, man. Just…. take it easy’ Johnny moved back. He sat down on the floor against the wall as the others started to walk around his room.

Daniel went over to Johnny. He looked down at him. ‘I’m sorry, Johnny. We’ll be done in a minute’

Johnny looked up at Daniel. He didn’t speak, just looked away.

Daniel moved over to the dresser and opened the drawers. They were all empty. It looked as though Johnny was living out of his suitcase instead of unpacking. There were a couple of items on the dresser, a comb, and some aftershave, but nothing else.

He stepped towards the nightstand as the other men looked through Johnny’s suitcase. Hayley stood back, leaning against a wall.

On the nightstand there was a glass of water and a book with a marker mid-way through. Daniel picked up the book. ‘And Then There Were None’ by Agatha Christie. Daniel turned it over and looked at the back cover. Such an unfortunate choice of reading material. Daniel looked over at Johnny. Johnny was watching him. Daniel placed the book back on the nightstand.

The men continued to search, and Johnny watched them, not saying anything. Daniel noticed that he wasn’t angry, he just looked apprehensive, watching as they went through his belongings. Daniel couldn’t read what he was thinking. Daniel couldn’t help thinking that if it had been him, he would be furious. He couldn’t understand why Johnny wasn’t.

‘You OK, Johnny?’ Daniel asked.

Johnny didn’t answer, he just looked at Daniel for a moment and looked away. Daniel had seen Johnny angry and had seen him violent. He almost preferred that to the way Johnny was looking at him now. Or not looking at him.

Satisfied there was nothing of interest in the bedroom, Chris moved into the bathroom. Jeff followed him and Daniel could hear movement and the sound of cabinets opening and closing. There was the scraping sound of porcelain being moved.

‘Jesus fuck’ came a voice.

Daniel looked towards the bathroom. Daniel looked down at Johnny who stared back at him, a confused look on his face.

‘You guys alright in there?’ Daniel called.

‘You had better get in here’ a voice said.

Daniel joined the men in the small bathroom. They had removed the lid to the cistern behind the toilet and were looking into the tank. They both moved so that Daniel could see what they were looking at.

In the water tank was a clear plastic bag. In the bag there was a knife and a white item of clothing. At the bottom of the tank, submerged in the water, was a mobile phone. 

Daniel swallowed loudly. The two men watched him as he put his hand in the cold water and pulled the bag out. Daniel tipped the contents into the sink. The knife fell out first. It had been hastily cleaned but the stains of blood remained. Daniel pulled out the T-shirt. The bag hadn’t been watertight, and it was damp. A white Zebra T-shirt. Daniel recognised it as Johnny’s. It was stained red with blood. Daniel took a long breath.

Someone handed Daniel the phone that had been in the tank. He recognised it as the phone missing from Taylor’s room. Daniel pressed the power button, but nothing happened, the screen black. He placed it next to the sink.

Daniel gripped the edge of the sink, the two men behind him, watching him to see how he would react. 

His head was swimming. Daniel stared down at the items in front of him. He had believed Johnny. Had defended him. Daniel still couldn’t believe it, not really. But how could he argue with the evidence anymore. Was this real evidence or was this circumstantial? The stubborn part of Daniel told him that it couldn’t be true, that he couldn’t have been this wrong about someone. Another part of him said that he couldn’t argue anymore with what was right in front of his face. He suddenly felt really sad. Sad for Johnny, sad for the victims. Sad for whatever had made Johnny do it.

‘I told you he fucking did this. He’s sick, man’ Jeff hissed behind him. ‘What are we going to do?’

Daniel breathed. ‘Let me just think for a moment’, he said quietly.

‘You can think all you want. I’m going to take care of this’ Chris said angrily. He turned and Daniel followed him quickly from the bathroom. 

Johnny was standing as the three men stepped back into the room. The room suddenly felt crowded with the tension and upon seeing the men’s expression.

‘What did you find?’ Johnny asked.

Hayley moved across the room and stood behind them. ‘What did you find?’ She asked Daniel, he nodded towards the bathroom. Hayley looked around the door and down at the sink. She gasped.

‘Daniel, what’s in there?’ Johnny asked, desperation in his voice. 

‘We found what you were hiding in the water tank’ Daniel said, his voice toneless. He was numb.

‘What…. I don’t know what you’re talking about. Daniel…. I don’t know anything about…’ Johnny’s voice started to crack. ‘Daniel, what’s in the tank?’

‘Stop pretending!’ Jeff shouted. 

Johnny ignored him and continued speaking to Daniel. ‘What’s in the tank?’

‘We found the knife. Your T-shirt, covered in blood’ Daniel said, speaking through the lump in his throat. 

‘What? What are you talking about?’ Johnny said, raising his voice. ‘I don’t know what any of you are talking about. Whatever is in there, they aren’t mine’ Johnny started towards Daniel. ‘Please Daniel, you have to…. I don’t know what’s going on’ 

Daniel stepped back and Johnny stopped.

‘You don’t believe me.’ It wasn’t a question.

Daniel looked at Johnny. The other man had tears in his eyes as he looked at Daniel. Daniel wanted to believe him so much. Thoughts raced through his head. He thought of Robby. How would he take this? How would Daniel tell him? How would he tell anyone? The kids back at the dojo? Was there something wrong with Johnny, something that had made him do this? Had he snapped? Or had he done this before? When had it started? Should Daniel have known? Had Johnny always been this person? Daniel started to feel sick, suddenly sure he was going to throw up. 

‘Johnny, there’s something wrong with you’ Daniel started to say, just thinking of keeping the other man calm, ‘I’ll help you, OK. Help your son. I don’t know why you would…. or what’s wrong with you…. but we’ll get you some help’ Daniel's voice started to break as he spoke, his emotions taking over. He needed to get out of the room. Daniel felt like he was going to pass out. He started to move towards the door.

‘Daniel...please. This is crazy. What do you think I am? Please believe me, I didn’t do this’ Johnny pleaded. 

Daniel couldn’t look at him. ‘I’m sorry, Johnny’ He moved quickly towards the door and stepped into the corridor. 


	12. Chapter 12

Daniel ran down the corridor. He felt lightheaded and needed to get away from that room. Johnny. The knife. The blood. It was all too much. He felt sick.

‘Daniel’ he heard someone call him.

Daniel turned and Hayley jogged after him.

‘Are you OK?’ Hayley asked, putting a hand on his arm.

Daniel sighed. ‘No’ he said, truthfully. He felt like he was going to cry.

‘Come on, let’s go to your room and get you a drink. You look like you need something strong’

Daniel nodded silently and let himself be led away.

Jeff, Chris, and Johnny were left in the room. Johnny watched the two men, one of them still carrying a rifle.

‘What do you want to do?’ Jeff asked him.

‘I wanna fucking shoot him’ Chris responded, not taking his eyes off Johnny.

‘You can’t just shoot him. We need to wait for the police’ Jeff responded.

‘I don’t know. We could say he attacked me. It was self-defence’ 

Johnny didn’t move, didn’t speak. He didn’t want to give either of these men an excuse to act.

Jeff moved closer to Chris and lowered his voice. ‘Look man, you’re emotional, I get that, but you need to give me the gun, OK. I’ll watch him. You go and see if we have any way of contacting the police. See if the phone lines are working. Hell, we’ll just start walking to town if we have to’

Chris nodded and passed the rifle to Jeff. Jeff patted him on the shoulder and Chris left the room. Jeff closed the door behind him.

Jeff motioned to Johnny. ‘You. Sit’ he nodded to the two chairs. 

Johnny sat down in the nearest chair, not taking his eyes off the rifle. He looked up at Jeff and then turned and stared out of the window. Johnny felt in a daze, not sure he could believe what was happening. 

Jeff sat in the bed behind Johnny. ‘Daniel doesn’t believe you anymore’ he said. He silently reached into his inside pocket and pulled out a case. 

Johnny didn’t respond. He continued to stare out the window, lost in thoughts.

‘I’m surprised. I didn’t think it would take that much to convince him’ Jeff continued. He opened the case quietly.

‘I didn’t hurt those people’ Johnny said, not looking round.

The man stood. ‘I know you didn’t’ 

Johnny turned his head towards the other man in surprise, just in time to see the needle of a hypodermic enter his shoulder. 

The effects were instantaneous. Johnny stood, attempting to defend himself but his vision quickly started to blur, and his tongue felt too heavy to speak. Johnny’s staggered, his legs turning to jelly. He fell, felt Jeff catch him and he was lowered to the floor. He stared up at the other man, eyes wide, and slowly the world went dark.

************************

Daniel and Hayley sat on Daniel’s bed. Daniel had a large glass of scotch in his hands, despite it still only being early in the afternoon. They sat in silence for a moment. Daniel was lost in his thoughts. 

‘Daniel’ 

Daniel jumped at the sound of her voice. He had been so caught up in his feelings that he had almost forgotten Hayley was there.

‘Daniel, do you really believe all this?’ she asked.

Daniel sighed. ‘What else is there?’ he said quietly. He looked down and a large teardrop fell into his drink. He quickly wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his shirt.

‘Because I don’t’ Hayley said.

Daniel looked up at her, confused. ‘What do you mean, you don’t?’ he asked. ‘You saw what we found. What else could it be?’

‘I did. I also saw Johnny. He’s seriously shitting himself. Either he is an Oscar worthy actor, he’s so mental that he really doesn’t know he killed those people or he has no idea how that stuff got into his room’ She took a long pull on her drink. ‘You’re his friend. Are you really saying that you believe that he is, what? Stalking the halls, killing complete strangers?’

‘I don’t know what I think’ Daniel admitted. 

Daniel considered himself a level-headed person, but he had no idea what he was thinking anymore. He felt like running away, taking his chances with the weather, and not stopping until he got to the nearest down. He missed his wife desperately, knowing that Amanda would know what to say to comfort him.

‘Let’s look back over this. Go over what we have’ Hayley said.

Daniel sighed. He wasn’t convinced there was any point. ‘Fine’

**************************

Johnny opened his eyes slowly and blinked. All he saw in front of him was white. He blinked three more times and realised that it was a wall, and it wasn’t white, it was a dirty pale cream colour. 

Johnny felt odd, like his head was full of wool and heavy. He looked around. He was lying on a bed, but he was no longer in his hotel room. 

As his head started to clear, he tried to get up but realised that he couldn’t move. He couldn’t move anything. Johnny started to panic. He couldn’t feel anything. It was as if his head was disconnected from his body. His brain was coming out of its fog, but his body wouldn’t respond to his commands. 

Johnny looked down as far as his peripheral vision would allow and could see his hand on the bed. He tried to move a finger but there was no response. Not even a twitch. He focused on his middle finger, on moving the muscles on his hand but it lay there as if it belonged to someone else. His heartbeat was frantic in his chest. What had happened to him? He desperately tried to move, focusing his mind on his hand. Nothing. Tears of fear and frustration came into his eyes as nothing responded. 

He gave up, exhausted. He was laying on his front on a bed, his face turned towards the wall and something was seriously wrong with him. His whole body was numb, but he was awake. 

Johnny remembered the needle, remembered who had done it, but nothing else. The room was silent, and he was alone. Johnny breathed, attempting to calm himself, and started to focus on moving his tongue. Maybe if he could make a noise, he could call for help.


	13. Chapter 13

Hayley listened in silence as Daniel told her the whole story from his arrival, from Taylor being found in her room, to that morning. She sat with her chin in her hand, looking down at the floor, thinking as he spoke, only occasionally nodding and not asking any questions. Daniel finally went silent. Hayley sat thinking for a few moments. Daniel watched her, not interrupting her thoughts.

‘So, this security cam video, you still have this?’ she asked.

‘Yeah. I downloaded it before the system was destroyed’ 

She thought for a moment. ‘And you watched the whole thing?’ 

‘Yeah, we watched it’

You’re telling me you watched all of it, what seven or eight hours or it?’ she pressed him.

‘What? Yes. I mean, we forwarded through part of it. There were hours of it. But we could see it. No one went into that room’

‘Hmmm’ Hayley was silent again.

Daniel looked at her. He tried to not get impatient as she sat thinking. Hayley was contemplative, didn’t rush as she thought, but Daniel struggled with the long periods of silence.

‘I think’ she said, speaking slowly, as if she was still thinking. ‘I want to watch that video. All of it’

‘What all eight hours of it?’ Daniel said with surprise. 

She smiled. ‘You have somewhere to be?’ she asked.

‘No. I just can’t see the point. We could see the corridor. It was empty’

She looked thoughtful for a moment. ‘You can’t see everything when you are forwarding through’ Hayley got up and paced. ‘So, let’s go through this. First, we have footage of the corridor. Then we have the hair in Taylor’s hand. You then found Johnny’s headband in Mr Walker’s room, presumably used to strangle him. Then we find the knife and a blood-soaked t-shirt in Johnny’s room, plus the phone. And you say that Johnny saw someone in his room last night’ 

‘Yeah. It all looks pretty bad’ Daniel said with a sigh.

She stopped pacing and looked down at Daniel. ‘Yeah, it does. It looks fucking terrible. It looks like either your friend is the sloppiest killer imaginable, or someone is littering this hotel with evidence to frame him’ 

She was pacing again. Daniel wished she would stop. She was giving him a headache.

‘And your saying that he was accused of two murders and then left his room to commit more? And if his room was unlocked, why would he call you to tell you someone had been in his room? Why not just keep quiet? He could have come and gone as he pleased, no one would have known but he told you!’

She stopped and looked at Daniel.

Daniel processed what Hayley had said and she just looked back, not speaking. Hayley was not someone to continue speaking if she had nothing left to say. She just looked at Daniel, waiting for his response. 

‘I think….’ Daniel said slowly. ‘I think……. that I may have made a mistake’ Daniel got up and started towards the door. He stopped and turned, looking back at Hayley. ‘But why?’

‘Why what?’

‘Why would someone frame him? Why Johnny? Why not any of us?’ 

Hayley stopped and thought for a moment. ‘I don’t know. Convenience? Dislike? He does have that whole cocky, pretty boy thing about him. Maybe someone took a dislike to him’

Daniel snorted. ‘Yeah, but there is dislike and there is framing someone for murder. Four people are dead, innocent people. Because, what? Someone dislikes Johnny? The guy can be a prick but that seems extreme’

‘But he could be a murderer? Despite everything you know about him?’ she asked, incredulously. 

Daniel ran his hands through his hair anxiously. ‘Shit. I’ve made a mistake. I need to see him’ Daniel left the room and Hayley followed.

*************************

Johnny laid on the bed. He had focused on trying to make a sound, any sound to get someone’s attention. He could feel sensations starting to come back, the weight of the bed against his body, his fingers on the bed clothes. He was able to make a sound, but it was frustratingly hard. He was making as louder noise as he could, which only came out as a soft cry. He knew no one would hear it. He soon stopped, the pointless effort exhausting. 

Johnny heard the door to the room open somewhere behind him. He struggled with all his energy to move but nothing responded. He tried to shout out, a strangled cry. He watched as Jeff came into his vision. 

The man stood and looked down at Johnny. Johnny stared back at him, wide eyed.

‘How are you, Johnny?’ he asked.

Johnny didn’t answer. Jeff smiled down at him.

‘What was that?’ he said, cupping his ear mockingly. He laughed and sat on the floor opposite Johnny. 

Johnny watched Jeff. He tried to move but his body would still not respond. Johnny tried to speak. ‘Wht’d you do t’e?’ he managed to croak; his speech slurred.

‘Tranquillisers. Stole them off our resident vet. They are pretty effective, aren’t they?’ Jeff said with a smile.

‘W...w?’

Jeff just looked at him, not responding. He finally spoke. ‘You don’t remember me, do you?’ 

Jeff stood up and stepped towards Johnny. He sat on the bed. Johnny watched as Jeff put his hand on Johnny, on his shoulder. His body registered the weight of the hand, but he couldn’t feel the man's touch. He was helpless and had never been more terrified in his life.

Jeff moved his hand up to Johnny’s shoulder. He sounded almost wistful as he spoke. ‘I remember you. Johnny Lawrence. Cobra Kai. I remember it all. I couldn’t believe it was you, after all these years’ 

He stood and sat on the floor, against the nightstand, sitting close to Johnny’s face. He looked at the far wall.

‘You made my life hell. And you don’t even remember me’ He turned his head to look at Johnny. ‘You called me Chubbs my whole teenage years. Do you remember me now?’ 

Johnny looked at the man. It suddenly all came back to him and finally he recognised Jeff from his childhood. Jeffrey. The loser of Cobra Kai, the one the other boys made fun of. The one who always got knocked out of the tournaments first. They always assumed that Kreese had only allowed Jeffrey to compete for his own amusement, no one ever expected him to succeed. Johnny remembered the laughter and the taunts. And he remembered that he was always the ringleader. Head bully, as always.

He thought back to the cruel pranks. Stealing the boy’s gi, knowing he would face Kreese’s wrath for losing it. Laughing at the boy as he showered, teasing him about his weight. The mean nicknames, the taunts. The laugher as he consistently got beaten during sparring. And Johnny remembered how Kreese had ignored the bullying, even encouraged it. Survival of the fittest, he had said. There was no bad, only weak. Jeffrey was weak. 

The memories made Johnny feel ashamed. Looking back, it was Johnny who was weak? Jeffrey had turned up to every lesson despite the bullies, whereas Johnny had always had his pack behind him. Always five on one. Who was truly the weak one? 

Johnny forced himself to speak. It took all his energy to move his lips. ‘m sorry’ he managed to get out.

‘Yeah I bet you are. I bet you’re sorry now. You probably haven’t even thought of me for all these years. Remember the tournament, nineteen eighty-four. Kreese threw me out for losing. He said I was an embarrassment to Cobra Kai’

Johnny remembered the match. Johnny hadn't even been paying attention to his teammate, had only been focused on the fighter who posed a risk to him. Johnny thought of Kreese, that night, when he had also been thrown out of Cobra Kai. 

‘I... I left…’ he managed to say.

Jeff smiled. ‘Oh yeah. The parking lot. I watched’ The smile left his face. ‘I remember wishing he would kill you. Until that funny little man stepped in. You didn’t deserve his help. He should have killed you that night’ Jeff’s voice was full of anger and venom. ‘And here you are, over thirty years later, the same cocky bastard you always were. As soon as I saw you and you looked straight through me, didn’t even recognise the child you tormented, I knew I had to do something.’

Johnny spoke slowly, each word an effort. ‘Taylor….sh’was innocent’

‘Innocent. Ha! Stupid slut. These things happen when you let strange men into your room. She got what was coming’

‘You killed them…’

Jeff’s face suddenly twisted in anger. ‘No! You killed them! You fucking killed them! They’re dead because of you!’

Jeff was shouting in Johnny’s face, making Johnny flinch away. The man was furious, unhinged. The anger in Jeff’s eyes frightened Johnny. They were wide, almost deranged. Johnny had no doubt this man could kill.

And Jeff was right. Johnny hadn’t recognised him, hadn’t even thought about the other man since the tournament thirty-four years ago.

The man stopped and took a breath, calming himself. He looked at Johnny and slowly smiled.

‘That’s enough talking for now. I’ve managed to keep it together for this long. It’s won’t be long now until this whole miserable thing comes to an end’


	14. Chapter 14

Daniel and Hayley were in the corridor. Daniel needed to speak to Johnny. The others thought he was a killer and Daniel needed to keep Johnny safe until the police arrived. He couldn’t understand why he had ever believed it. It seems so obvious. Johnny wasn’t a killer. Why had Hayley, a stranger, seen that, and Daniel hadn’t? He felt ashamed. He started to walk faster.

They got to Johnny’s room and opened the door. The room was empty. 

‘Johnny!’ Daniel called. He looked in the bathroom. ‘Johnny!’ There was no one there. Daniel turned to Hayley. ‘Where is he?’

‘I don’t know’ she said gently. ‘But we’ll find him. You said he can handle himself. He’ll be fine’ she said, trying to reassure Daniel, who she could see was starting to panic.

‘We need to look for him’ Daniel turned and left the room. He hurried down the corridor. Hayley followed. 

****************************

Johnny focused on his words. Speaking was getting easier with each passing minute. ‘What y’ gonna do?’

Jeff sighed dramatically. ‘Well, it’s a tragedy really. You see, poor Johnny just totally loses the plot. Goes mad. Goes on a spree. Kills others, then himself. We just have to decide how he does it?’ Jeff moved towards him and Johnny flinched away. ‘Does he slit his wrists, his own throat? Maybe he’ll find the rifle and shoot himself?’ Jeff stood up. ‘Or maybe he’ll hang himself. Perhaps from a tree in the garden?’ he looked down at Johnny. ‘I’ll leave you for now and let you know when I have decided’ 

‘You’re…. you’re fucking insane’ Johnny said quietly. 

Jeff didn’t respond, he just stared down at Johnny and then moved behind him. Johnny heard movement. Jeff appeared in front of him, a roll of duct tape in his hand. 

‘We’re done talking’ 

He tore a long piece off and placed it over Johnny’s mouth. Jeff tore a second and a third piece off. Johnny moaned as Jeff covered his mouth and wrapped it around Johnny’s head, uncomfortably tight. 

‘There you go. That’s much better’ Jeff smiled down at Johnny. ‘No one’s looking for you, you know, and even if they were, they’re not going to think of looking here. These old rooms haven’t been used in years’

Jeff walked away. Johnny heard the door close behind him, a key turn in the lock. 

He desperately tried to move, focusing on getting his limbs moving. He had to get out of there before that psycho came back. Johnny put all his energy into his arms and hands. He watched his fingers, willing them to move. Johnny saw a flutter of movement. It was small but it was a start. 

*************************

Daniel and Hayley moved through the corridors looking for any sign of where Johnny could have gone. They found themselves in the lobby. No one else was about. They looked towards the dining room and the stairs down to the kitchens. 

‘Let’s check the rooms downstairs’ Hayley said. ‘There’s the dining room and bar.

There is a whole corridor of conference rooms down that way’ she said, nodding to the corridor to their left. 

‘This is going to take too long’ Daniel said, desperation in his voice. ‘He could be anywhere’

‘Let’s split up. I’ll take the conference rooms. You take the dining rooms, bars and kitchens’ Hayley suggested. 

Daniel looked at her. ‘Are you sure that is a good idea? To do this alone. What if something happens?’

‘Just keep an eye out, keep your back to the wall and if anything happens shout as loud as you can’ Hayley said, trying to reassure him. ‘If Johnny is in trouble, this will make finding him much quicker’

Daniel relented. ‘OK. But be careful, please’

Hayley nodded and disappeared down the corridor.

Daniel watched her leave. He turned and walked quickly towards the dining room. Daniel moved through the silent room. He walked through to the bar. Daniel checked the room quickly, checking behind the bar and the storage rooms. Nothing. 

He moved down the stairs to the kitchen. The only sound he could hear was his own footsteps and fast breathing. He remembered the night before, that feeling of being watched in the kitchen. He took Hayley’s advice and moved with his back to the wall.

‘Johnny’ he called softly as he opened the door to the kitchen. The room was silent. Daniel flicked on the light switch, lighting up the room.

He moved slowly through the kitchen, round the large middle counter. He turned and found he was in front of the freezer. The door was still open, and he could see Laurie’s body still lying there. 

Daniel looked at her and swallowed. 

From nowhere Daniel suddenly felt someone behind him and then all he saw was darkness. Some had pulled something over his head and was pulling it tight. Daniel struggled as it suffocated him. He felt thick plastic against his face and mouth, crying out as it was pulled tighter.

Daniel kicked behind him, but the person moved and dodged his feet. Daniel’s attacker pulled harder. Daniel pulled at the bag, desperately trying to scrape his nails through the plastic. 

Daniel could feel himself getting weaker as his body struggled for oxygen. His lungs burned and all he could taste was the plastic in his mouth. Daniel slumped over, falling limply to the ground. 


	15. Chapter 15

Johnny heard the door open and moaned in fear as Jeff stood over him. Jeff sat down in front of Johnny.

The feeling was coming back to his body, Johnny could move his hand, grip the bed sheet lightly and had been focusing on moving his legs. It was agonisingly slow progress. Johnny had no idea how long he had been in the room. 

‘I have news’ Jeff sat on the floor, back against the wall. ‘You’re friend, Daniel. I’m afraid he’s dead. Suffocated. Really very sad’

Johnny just stared at Jeff. Jeff continued.

‘You would have thought that a two-time Karate champion could look after himself. But then I suppose Johnny Lawrence always was a good match for him’ Jeff smiled and then looked serious. ‘I did wonder why Daniel LaRusso was so quick to defend you, after everything you did to him. I wish I had asked him. Now we’ll never know’

Johnny tried to talk through the tape. 

‘I’m sorry, I can’t understand you’

Jeff reached forward. Johnny flinched away from him and Jeff ripped the tape from his face. Johnny winced but his mouth was free.

‘You’re lying’ Johnny said.

The other man smiled. ‘I wish I were, Johnny. But I can assure you, I wouldn’t lie to you’

The man watched Johnny, looking into his eyes, Johnny knew he was telling the truth. He looked so proud of himself, desperate to see Johnny’s reaction.

‘You bastard’ he said, his voice low.

Jeff suddenly looked angry. He jumped up and stood over Johnny.

‘I’m the bastard?!’ He shouted, grabbing hold of Johnny’s hair, pulling his head off the bed. ‘None of this would have happened if it wasn’t for you. You started this. Still the same cocky prick you always were. This is your fault!’ 

The man let go, dropping Johnny’s head back onto the bed. He took a breath and then another. The man flew from angry to calm without a moment's notice. ‘No one would blame you Johnny. Daniel beat you, him, and his sensei, all those years ago. And he made a success of himself, the big car salesman. It must have driven you mad. So, you snapped, killed him’ 

He placed a hand on Johnny’s head. 

‘Not long to go now’ He left the room, leaving Johnny alone.

Johnny lay on the bed, just looking at the wall. Daniel was dead. Killed like the others by that fucking psycho. And Johnny knew that Jeff intended to kill him as well. 

‘I’m sorry’ Johnny said to himself, thinking of Daniel. Johnny thought of the last year, the arguments, the All Valley committee, his rent and finding Robby at Daniel’s house. And now Daniel was dead. Because of him.

His fear was soon replaced by cold, white anger. Johnny was determined to move, determined to get his limbs working. He tried to move his feet, shuffle them to the side. His sneakers felt like they were made of cement.

He gave up and instead focused on his arms, moving his hands. He could grip the bed and he thought about pulling himself towards the edge of the bed. Johnny had just enough strength to push his feet and use his hands to pull himself an inch. He cried out with frustration. It was so hard and unbearably slow. The physical exertion of it exhausted him. 

*************************

Daniel lay on the floor of the walk-in freezer, the door closed. He climbed to his feet, shaking as he did. His throat and lungs still burnt and he could feel his hands trembling with adrenaline. 

After he had made the split-second decision to fall to the floor, hoping his attacker would think he was dead, Daniel had laid on the ground and had felt himself being dragged across the kitchen. It had taken all his self-control not to take large mouthfuls of air when he had felt the bag go slack. He knew that it would have given him away and resulted in him being set on again.

Daniel had felt himself be pulled across the floor and onto the freezing cold floor of the walk-in freezer. As Daniel heard his attacker walk away, leaving him, he had tried to take small gulps of air and it was only when he had heard the freezer door close had he let his body take what it needed and he started to take massive gulp of air. 

He had rolled over and opened his eyes, and cried out in shock as he realised he was lying face to face with Laurie’s dead body, the frozen puddle of blood close to his face. Daniel had jumped away and was now sitting against the wall.

Daniel knew his attacker was not Johnny but he had no idea who it was. All he did know was that whoever had attacked him had wanted him dead and he was now locked in a giant freezer.

***********************

Johnny had managed to pull himself to the edge of the bed and was looking down at the floor. The combination of the physical exertion and the drugs made him desperate to close his eyes, to sleep, but he fought it. 

He moved his feet, shuffling them to the right, trying to get them close to the edge. If he could let his legs fall, maybe the rest of him would follow and he could crawl to the door.

Johnny pushed his feet into the bed and gripped the edge. He tried to brace as he fell but he wasn’t strong enough and Johnny fell with a hard thump onto the wooden floor, hitting his head on the bedside cabinet. He laid on his back, looking at the ceiling. He knew that it was now going to be a struggle just to right himself back. He breathed. He had to do it. Had to keep fighting.

*********************

Daniel looked through the window of the freezer. If someone walked past, he could attempt to get their attention. He blew into his hands. His breath came out as mist. Daniel looked at the thermometer on the wall. Five degrees. 

Daniel paced the room. He dared not touch anything for fear that his bare hands would freeze to the metal around him. Daniel looked down at the body of Laurie on the floor. He shuddered and looked away. 

It all seemed so crazy to Daniel, everything that had happened the last few days. He had come here for some quiet time away and ended up locked in a freezer with a dead body, someone had just tried to kill him and he had no idea if Johnny was dead or alive.

************************

Johnny lay on his back. He had only been able to move one arm onto his chest, hoping to use the momentum to roll onto his side, but he was exhausted. He was now just laying, trying to work up the strength to move again.

The door opened, making Johnny jump. As the other man walked into the room Johnny tried to move but it was useless.

Jeff stood over Johnny, looking down at him. He looked amused. ‘What are you doing on the floor? You stuck?’ he asked mockingly.

‘Fuck you’ Johnny spat at him.

The other man didn’t answer. He put his foot on Johnny’s hand and pushed down. Johnny’s looked over at his hand. There was numbness but he could feel the weight. 

Jeff smiled and moved his foot and pushed the heel of his boot into Johnny’s fingers and pushed his body weight into it. Johnny couldn’t hold it in anymore and cried out as the other man crushed his fingers under his boot. Jeff laughed and stamped down on him, breaking his fingers. 

Johnny cried and tried to pull his hand away. Jeff finally moved his food. Johnny looked at his hand, the skin was broken and bleeding. 

Johnny looked up at Jeff in anger. He swallowed. ‘Easy when your opponent is drugged. You always were a fucking pussy,’ he said slowly.

Jeff’s face twisted with rage and he grabbed Johnny’s hand and twisted his broken fingers. Johnny screamed as the man twisted harder, his body now registering the pain. Jeff let go of his hand and it fell onto Johnny’s chest. Johnny closed his eyes, tearing up in pain. He laughed. He couldn’t help it, the fear making him laugh.

‘Laugh all you want, Johnny. You may as well. You’re gonna fucking die here’ Jeff stood over him. 

Johnny only laughed harder. He was terrified and couldn’t help it. He felt like he was becoming hysterical. 

Jeff growled with anger at the other man’s laughter and kicked Johnny in the head, silencing him instantly.

********************

Daniel was sitting on the floor, his hand tucked under his armpits. He was shivering uncontrollable, making his teeth chatter. He closed his eyes and breathed out. He wasn’t sure how long he had been in the freezer but he was starting to suffer and he was scared. His feet were numb and his fingers were white. Daniel knew he couldn’t be in here for much longer without succumbing to hypothermia.

He stood carefully and walked around the small room. He looked through the window of the freezer into the dark, empty kitchen. He had wanted to shout for help but was afraid of attracting the attention of his attacker. Now he knew that the cold was a bigger danger.

The door was made of thick metal and Daniel started to bang on it. 

‘Help! Someone! I’m stuck in here’ Daniel shouted, hitting the door as hard as he could. 

He looked out at the empty kitchen, no idea if anyone could hear him. Daniel looked around. He spotted a large leg of lamb on one of a shelve and picked it up. It was frozen solid and heavy. Daniel turned to the door and hit at the door with it, satisfied at the loud clanging sound it made. Maybe someone would hear this, he thought.

***********************

The sound of the door made Johnny open his eyes. He rolled his head to the side. His head ached badly and the movement made him groan. He didn’t have to look in a mirror to know that his face was badly swollen. 

Jeff moved around the bed, pushing a wheelchair. He moved the chair in front of Johnny. 

‘What’s that for?’ Johnny asked, the pain in his jaw making it hard to talk. 

‘We’re moving’ Jeff said as he fixed the breaks on the chair, holding in place. ‘This is for you. You’re still gonna feel pretty weak, but don’t worry. It won’t be long now’ He walked round and stood over the other man. ‘I’ve made a decision’ 

Johnny’s eyes widened as Jeff held up a rope with a noose tied at one end.

‘You’re gonna hang yourself’ Jeff smiled.

Johnny looked at the noose and looked at Jeff's unhinged smile. The man had lost his mind. Johnny tried to move, could move his arms. He rolled onto his side, his broken hand dropping onto the floor as he did. He cried out in pain as it hit the hard, wooden floor. 

‘Hey, hey. Where are you going?’ Jeff took Johnny’s shoulder and rolled him back onto his back. He placed his foot on Johnny’s ankle. ‘You’ve already broken your hand, don’t break your ankle as well’ he warned, digging his heel into the skin.

‘Just stop. I’m sorry, OK. I know I was a prick back then. Please just stop’ Johnny said, trying to reason with the man. 

Jeff responded by pushing his body weight down on Johnny’s ankle, his heel on the ankle bone. 

‘Fuck! Just stop’ Johnny cried. He tried to reason with the man. ‘Just think, who’s gonna believe I managed to kill myself with a broken ankle, man. You do that and it’s gonna ruin your story!’

Jeff looked at him, thinking. He took his foot slowly away from Johnny’s ankle. Johnny blew out a sigh of relief. He closed his eyes. They flew open again as he sensed the other man’s movement and Jeff stamped on his foot, the ankle twisting sharply at an angle, breaking the bone.

Johnny cried out. He looked down at his foot, the sight of his foot twisted at an ugly ankle while not fully registering the pain terrified him. The fear gave him a shot of adrenaline and he moved away. His muscles still felt like jelly but his survival instinct was kicking in and he managed to roll onto his front and tried to crawl away. His broken ankle and hand meant he only had half of his limbs to work with but he forced himself to move.

Jeff crouched over him and hooked his arms around Johnny’s chest and pulled him to his feet. Johnny’s legs were still too weak from the drugs and he was helpless as the man dragged him across the floor and threw him heavily into the chair.


	16. Chapter 16

Daniel was hoarse from shouting. He could feel himself getting weaker, the cold taking its toll. His hands were unbearably painful when he moved them. They were pale but the ends of his fingers were red. Was that frostbite? He squeezed and rubbed his fingers, wincing with pain as he did, trying to keep the circulation going. His toes were agony, feeling like they were swollen in his shoes. 

He leaned against the wall and slid down to the floor. He wrapped his arms around himself, holding his hands in his armpits. 

*********************

Johnny cried in pain as his hands were taped together, his broken hand wrenched into place. 

‘Come on, man. Let’s talk…’

Jeff grabbed his hair, pulling Johnny’s head back. He wrapped tape across Johnny’s mouth. Johnny was shouting; his voice muffled by the tape.

He had a knife, the knife from Johnny’s room. Jeff held it against the other man’s face. ‘Shut up’ he said sharply

Johnny looked down at the knife and saw it covered in the blood of the other victims. Johnny went quiet as he was wheeled into the corridor. His heart was beating like a jackhammer in his chest.

**********************

Daniel forced himself to stand. He was dizzy, his head light. The wall was freezing cold as Daniel reached out to steady himself. He moaned as he pulled his hand away, his skin pulling against the frozen metal. Daniel looked down. The skin was red as if he had been burnt. 

He staggered towards the door. Daniel knew he was going to die if he didn’t get out soon. The cold, lack of oxygen or carbon dioxide poisoning from his own expelled breath, one would take him if he spent much longer trapped in the freezing metal box.

Daniel leaned against the door, placed his forehead against the window. He closed his eyes. He felt so tired. Daniel’s breath steaming up the window, the condensation freezing on the glass. His eyes opened slowly.

There was someone in the kitchen!

His energy come back to him. ‘Hey! Hey! I’m in here!’ He shouted. He watched as Hayley turned her head. He waved.

The door opened and Daniel breathed a sigh of relief. He staggered out and fell into Hayley’s arms. 

‘Oh my god, Daniel’ Hayley wrapped her arms around the freezing man. 

He was shivering, his lips blue. She held him, rubbing his arms, trying to warm him. She took his fingers and rolled them between her palms, making him hiss with pain as the circulation came back.

Daniel’s only thought was for Johnny.

‘It’s…. it’s n..not him’. Daniel stuttered, his shivering making speaking difficult. ‘S...s... someone attacked me. Tr... tried to kill me. T..t..they locked me in’ 

‘I know it isn’t. I looked at the security footage’ Hayley tilted her head, looking Daniel in the eye. ‘Someone doctored it’

‘What? How d...d….d…do you know?’

Hayley took Daniel’s arms and moved him to a stool, sitting him down. She crouched in front of him and rubbed his legs. ‘Not long after you go up to bed, there’s a strange blip in the recording. It looks like someone has added footage of the empty corridor’ she explained. ‘It happens again later’ She huffed out a laugh. ‘It’s actually quite sloppily done’

He flexed his fingers. ‘Johnny w...w... was telling the truth’ he said, not being able to hide the regret from his voice.

She nodded. ‘I went to Johnny’s room and got the phone. It’s dry and it works. Taylor, she sent a text 10 minutes after Johnny left. That’s why someone stole the phone, because it proved she was alive. Next question is who? Someone knew how to tamper with the security footage’

Daniel thought for a moment and the realisation hit him. ‘Jeff’

‘Jeff? Why him?’

Daniel felt like a jigsaw piece that had been hanging on the edge of his brain fell into place. He suddenly grabbed her arms and looked at her. ’Fuck!’

‘What?’

‘Shit, that is what was bothering me. About Jeff. The first day we met. He used Johnny’s name. I remember noticing it at the time but I thought nothing of it. What if he knows him?’ Daniel said. He tried to stand but sat back down, still weak from the cold. 

Hayley was confused. ‘What are you talking about?’

Daniel stood and moved out of the kitchen. Hayley followed him. ‘The first night. I was having a drink with Jeff and Jeff called Johnny by his name’ Daniel stopped and turned suddenly, forcing Hayley to stop, almost bumping into him. Daniel was excited. He knew who the killer was!

‘He knows how to handle security footage. Jeff, when we were in the security office, he said he knew how to use the system, had worked with it before. He must know how to tamper with the recording, to cut it.’

They were in the lobby and moving through the rooms. Chris was at the bar.

‘Chris!’ Daniel shouted, making the other man jump. Chris turned. ‘Where’s Jeff?’ 

Chris looked at the two of them, saw the urgency on Daniel’s face. ‘He’s watching your friend’ 

Daniel shook his head. ‘They’ve disappeared. They’re not in his room. Someone tried to kill me, locked me in the freezer. It wasn’t Johnny.’ Daniel paused. ‘It’s Jeff, all of it. I’m sure of it’

The other man looked at him sceptically. ‘What makes you think that?’

‘It’s something to do with Johnny. I don’t know how but I’m sure. I think Jeff knows him. We need to find them’ 

Daniel turned and walked quickly out of the room. His feet ached but he ignored them, knowing this was more important. The others had to jog to keep up. He was moving towards the elevators. 

‘Why? Why would he do this? And frame Johnny? Why?’ Chris asked behind Daniel. 

Daniel didn’t answer. He looked at the elevators. It was on the fourth floor. Daniel moved, deciding to take the stairs. He started to climb, limping, and wincing as the circulation returned to his toes. The others followed.

‘Johnny! Johnny!’ Daniel shouted as he moved down the corridor. He needed to find his friend. If it wasn’t already too late.

***************************

The wheelchair moved down the corridor. Jeff pushed it towards the elevators. Johnny took the opportunity and tried to move, shouting into the tape on his mouth. Jeff calmly grasped Johnny’s damaged fingers and twisted them cruelly. The man’s shouts of pain were muffled. Johnny stopped struggling, breathing heavy from the pain. 

‘Not long now.’ 

Jeff pressed the buttons on the elevator. The doors opened and Jeff pushed the chair in. Jeff hummed along to the music as the elevator moved. Johnny turned his head and looked up at the other man. Jeff was smiling to himself. 

***********************

They stopped. 

‘This is pointless. We need to split up. Chris, where's your rifle?’ Daniel asked.

‘I…. I gave it to Jeff’ Chris confessed.

‘Shit. Do you have another?’ 

The man nodded. ‘Yeah, in the office’

Daniel turned to Hayley. ‘You and I are gonna keep looking. Chris, go and get the rifle’

Chris nodded and left them. 

The other two carried on down the corridor. They opened doors as they went, checking any unlocked door they came across.

*********************

The elevator door opened and Jeff pushed the wheelchair out. They were on the floor overlooking the lobby. He pushed the wheelchair towards the railings. 

Johnny began to struggle. With every minute he was getting stronger and fighting harder. He threw his arms up, trying to hit the other man but missed, his hand falling on the back of the chair. Johnny’s breathing was heavy as he was pushed towards the railings. 

***********************

Chris moved through the lobby, not looking up at the balcony above him. He grabbed a rifle from the cabinet and filled it with bullets. 

*************************

Daniel turned to Hayley. He was panic stricken. There were too many rooms.

‘We are never going to find them’ 

***********************************

Jeff tied the rope to the railing and moved towards Johnny. He put the noose over his head and pulled it tight. 

The man in front of Johnny. ‘We’ve come to the end.’ He placed his hand on Johnny’s damaged ankle and squeezed. Johnny cried out, struggling.

The rope secured; Jeff moved the chair so it overlooked the balcony. He hooked his arms around Johnny’s chest and pulled him out of the chair and pushed him against the railings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry all. I know this was listed as 16 chapters but looks like it is gonna be 18. My bad! 😁


	17. Chapter 17

Johnny was fighting, his hands still tied and his mouth taped. He struggled, putting pressure on his broken ankle. He cried out in pain and backed off. Johnny felt himself move backwards. One more push and he would go over, the noose still around his neck. The fall would break his neck instantly.

He ignored the pain and shoved against Jeff as hard as he could. 

************************

‘Jeff!’ The man turned at the sound of the voice.

Daniel stood across from them, Hayley behind him. ‘Jeff, you need to stop.’ Daniel looked at his friend, mouth covered and face swollen, his hands bound in front of him. Despite his appearance, Daniel was relieved to see him alive. 

The man smiled. ‘Daniel. How are you? Little cold?’ Jeff kicked Johnny’s ankle, causing the man to fall, and Jeff grabbed the noose, dragging him further over the railings. 

There was a shout from below them as Chris pointed the rifle up at Jeff. Jeff turned and Daniel took the opportunity to step forward. Jeff turned quickly back towards him.

‘It’s over’ Daniel moved forward. 

‘It’s not over until he’s punished for everything he did to me!’

Daniel needed to keep this guy calm. He looked him in the eye. This man’s eyes were wide. He was cornered and panicking, making him dangerous. Jeff’s no longer had anything to lose. Daniel had to get him talking, talk him down. ‘What did he do? Tell me’

Jeff let go of Johnny, who fell to the floor, desperate to get his weight off his ankle. He tried to remove the noose but Jeff pulled on the rope, tightening it. Johnny put his hands to his neck, pulling at the rope around his neck.

‘This evil fucking bastard made my life miserable, made my life hell’ Jeff moved forward, pulling the rope with him. Johnny tried to follow, to keep slack in the rope.

‘So, he bullied you. He was an asshole. I know that as much as anyone’ Daniel said. ‘But all those people. They had to die because of a stupid kid?’

‘I didn’t kill them! He killed them! They’re dead because of him!’ Jeff took another step towards Daniel. Johnny desperately tried to get his fingers between the skin of his neck and the rope but it was too tight. 

Daniel looked at the man’s hand. He held a knife. Daniel raised his hands, showing that he wasn’t a threat. ‘Let him go, please. He was an asshole, but he doesn’t deserve this, none of them did. Just let him go and we can talk.’

Jeff looked down at the knife in his hand and up at Daniel. ‘I don’t think so.’ He turned and looked at Johnny. Daniel watched him, completely still, not daring to move. 

Jeff walked over to Johnny. Johnny moved back, ignoring the agony of his hand and ankle as he crawled backwards.

‘No! Please!’ Daniel shouted and ran towards the man as he raised the knife over Johnny’s head. Johnny held his heads up, ready to defend himself against the blow he knew was coming. 

A shot rang out and Jeff stopped. Chris was on the stairs with the rifle raised. The man looked surprised, as if he couldn’t believe he had pulled the trigger. Jeff looked down at his chest, watched the blood appear on his chest. Jeff silently fell back over the railings. 

Daniel breathed. It was over. 

Daniel heard a cry and watched with horror as Johnny was dragged backwards by the rope around his neck. He ran towards the other man, watching Johnny gasp and struggle. 

He looked over the railings. Despite the wound in his chest, Jeff was alive and was holding onto the rope, trying desperately not to fall to the hard floor far below him. Jeff’s body weight was pulling the noose viciously tight around Johnny’s neck. Daniel ran to him. Johnny clawed at his neck as the rope dug into his throat.

Daniel pulled the tape from Johnny’s mouth Johnny’s face was red. They could hear Jeff shouting, begging for help but all Daniel could focus on was getting the rope from Johnny’s neck.

‘Help me!’ Daniel screamed at the others. 

Hayley ran towards them and began to fight with the knots of the ropes on the bannister. 

Daniel looked at her. ‘Untie it please’ he begged.

She struggled with the knots but they were too tight, the rope too thick, the knots pulled tight by the man’s weight. 

Johnny was fighting, his face going from red to purple as he was deprived of oxygen. Daniel was in front of him, Johnny’s blue eyes wide, full of panic. He saw the whites of his eyes become bloodshot. Daniel tried to get his fingers between the rope and the man’s neck, to create some space for him to breath. His fingers only dug into Johnny’s skin. 

‘I can’t…’ Hayley said, voice desperate. Her fingers desperately trying to loosen the knots. They were too tight.

Daniel looked around and down at Johnny. Johnny’s eyes were closed and he was no longer fighting. Daniel knew he was dying. 

‘No, no’ he muttered. Daniel stood and looked down at Jeff, who was clinging to the rope, staring up at him. 

‘Please help me!’ Jeff said desperately. 

The knife! Daniel saw the knife on the floor. He took hold of it and began to saw through the ropes. Jeff screamed at him to stop but Daniel only thought of saving Johnny’s life. The man’s head was slumped to the side, unconscious as Daniel desperately hacked at the rope. Johnny’s muscles spasmed as life left him, his legs kicking weakly.

The rope snapped. Jeff screamed as he fell to the ground. Johnny’s slumped over as the tension of the rope disappeared.

‘Johnny!’ Daniel was at his side. He put his hands to the man’s face, tapping his cheek. ‘Johnny.’ 

Johnny didn’t respond. Daniel put his cheek to the man’s mouth.

‘He’s not breathing! He’s not breathing!’

Hayley moved towards them. She pulled the rope off and felt Johnny’s neck. Hayley laid the man on his back. ‘There’s no pulse’ she said as she used the knife to cut through the tape on his hands.

‘What?’ Daniel said. He felt disorientated, like he was in a dream. He had heard what she had said but didn’t feel like he had understood the words.

‘There’s no pulse’ Hayley said louder as his hands came apart. She put her hands over Johnny’s chest and started compressions. After twelve, she tipped Johnny’s head back and, holding his nose, she blew into his lungs.

Daniel held his hands to his face in shock as Hayley pumped on Johnny’s chest again. 

‘Come on’ she muttered to herself as she pressed her clasped fists into his chest. Hayley felt his ribs give under her hands; knew she was hurting him but also knew if she could get him breathing, he might just recover. ‘Fucking breath, goddamnit’

Daniel felt tears on his face as the woman worked. He looked on feeling helpless as someone else worked to save Johnny’s life. He remembered being a teenager and watching his Sensei, watching someone else come to his friend’s aid. He froze again, just like he did back then.

Johnny still wasn’t responding, his eyes closed. Daniel didn’t know how long he had been like that, but it felt like too long, way too long. 

Hayley sealed Johnny’s mouth with hers and breathed into his lungs. She gave him three breaths, knowing that she was coming to the end of what she could do. Johnny wouldn’t survive much longer without breath in his lungs.

Johnny’s gasped into her mouth and Hayley pulled away. He took another breath, his eyes still closed but his chest rising.

‘Oh, thank god!’ Daniel said.

Hayley rolled Johnny onto his side into the recovery position, rubbing the man’s back gently. She could hear Daniel behind her, his sighs of relief. She knew that they were not there yet, that the man had been without oxygen for long, potentially too long. She spoke gently to him, comforting him, encouraging him to breathe. His eyes were still closed. He was breathing but hadn’t come to.

Watching the woman, Daniel realised that Johnny was not OK. He hadn’t opened his eyes, but Daniel could see him breathing, his ribs rising and falling. And yet Hayley was still at the man’s side, telling him to breath. She looked grim.

‘Johnny?’ Daniel was scared. Daniel knew what oxygen deprivation could do, didn’t want to think about it.

Hayley crouched over Johnny. She saw his eyes open and him blink. Blue eyes, the whites reddened with broken blood vessels. She took a hand full of his hair and pulled. Johnny moaned with pain. 

‘Johnny, open your eyes’ she said loudly to him.

The man tried to raise his hand to his face and groaned. Hayley took his hand from his face and held his chin, moving his line of sight to her. 

‘Johnny’ she said. ‘Do you know where you are?’

Daniel was kneeling at her side, tears rolling down his face. ‘Johnny. Hey, man, you gotta talk to us.’ He wiped at his eyes with his sleeve.

‘I’m alright, LaRusso. Stop crying’ a quiet voice said, no more than a hoarse whisper. 

Johnny was looking up at them, his eyes focused. Daniel could see the broken veins in his eyes. The sight of his red eyes made Daniel realise just how close Johnny had been, how close they had all been. He wiped his eyes, laughing.

‘No one’s crying’ he said with a trembling laugh.

‘Yeah, right’ Johnny said, before closing his eyes and groaning as he rolled onto his side. ‘Is he dead?’ Johnny asked, eyes closed. 

They looked towards the railings. Daniel stood and walked slowly over, looking down. Chris was at the man’s side. He looked up at Daniel and shook his head grimly.

‘He’s dead’ Daniel said. Daniel didn’t know how to feel. He had saved Johnny but at the expense of the other man. He knew that no one would blame him but he had taken another man’s life nonetheless. Daniel breathed out and looked over at Johnny, still laid on his side, being looked after by Hayley. What a weekend. 


End file.
